I've Never
by effingbejeezus
Summary: May include spoilers from Britney/Brittany to recent episodes  From a harmless game of I've Never, Puck and Kurt started to get to know each other without the usual awkwardness. What could possibly go wrong with this?   Beta'd from Ch.3 by: PteraWaters
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: First chapter of my first fanfic! Yey me! Anyway, sorry guys but this is not a beta-ed work. If you can suggest someone who reads and corrects grammar, please do. In the mean time, I deeply apologize for not using correct grammar. I am from a country that uses English as a second language only, so I'm real sorry. **** R&R! :)**

* * *

**CHAPTER 1**

* * *

The homecoming assembly was a success! Well, it was, until Sue turned the fire alarm on. Right after the ruckus happened; all the glee club members marched back to the choir room, all still hyped up about their previous number.

"That was amazing!" Finn exclaimed. Artie gave him a high-five to agree. Everybody was hugging and cheering, most of them surrounding Brittany for doing such a good job on her first solo.

"As Sue's right hand, I'm really sorry for ruining your first solo, B." Quinn hugged the blonde Cheerio.

"Not for long." Quinn glared at Santana's snarky comment. They glowered at each other's faces, slowly inching nearer to each other.

"Thanks, Quinn! But it was still fun!" Brittany stepped up in between them and at the same time, grabbed Santana's pinky with her own. She held it tight while tugging the brunette away to break her death glare away from Quinn. Successfully, Santana squeezed back and followed the blonde Cheerio.

When everybody was seated, Mr. Schue, together with Puck, entered the room. The Spanish teacher got his hand at Puck's shoulder; he whispered something to him before letting him sit on his chair. The student sat down looking all pissed off, his arms crossed at his chest.

"I want to congratulate you guys for an outstanding performance. Though we were cut short, it was still amazing." Mr. Schue smiled at the kids. "Now, I want to say—"

"Schuester!" Sue stood at the doorway; her eyes were still wide open because of the performance earlier. "Figgins' office! Now!" She turned around and walked furiously down the hall.

All the glee kids stared at the doorway where Sue stood; each of them had the I-sense-trouble face on their faces. "No need to worry, guys." The Spanish teacher chuckled, but he was unable to mask the nervousness in his laugh. "Rest for the weekend, okay? All our hardwork was worth it." He smiled at them, and then dashed at the principal's office.

As the rest of the glee club stood up and started packing their things, Rachel walked in front of them. She cleared her throat loudly to catch everyone's attention. "Since everyone persevered and sacrificed for this successful performance, I would like to invite all of you to our house. I anticipated our performance to be this awesome, so I prepared a small party. All of you are welcome to stay and sleep over."

Everybody mumbled an I-don't-know and a not-a-good-time response when Finn joined Rachel in front of them. "C'mon guys, this was our first assembly together." He smiled at them as some started nodding and reconsidering on the event.

The party eventually became a great turnout. Almost everybody came except for one. "My mom won't let me go to a party or even sleep over after Beth happened." She explained at Kurt thru the phone. "It's frustrating sometimes, but I get her. Anyway, I have to go. Say hi to everyone and have fun!" Kurt replied with a bye before ending the call. He was with Mercedes at the kitchen grabbing a soda for everyone when the doorbell rang.

* * *

"I'll get it!" Kurt scampered towards the door and looked through the peephole. His eyebrows arched up as he opened the door. "Why are you holding six packs of wine coolers?"

"It's a party, right?" Puck stepped inside the house and went straight to the dining room where he settled the wine coolers.

"Are you trying to impregnate someone again?" Mercedes asked the moment she saw the packs.

"Please. Who gets drunk with wine coolers?"

"Apparently, Quinn." Kurt answered behind his back.

"Well, Quinn's not here—"

"What is that?" Rachel's voice came from the doorway. She entered the dining room pointing at the bottles settled at the counter. "I promised my dads no alcoholic drinks whatsoever."

"These are just wine coolers!" Puck defended. "I just brought them to get the party started. That's all."

The others started marching towards the dining room. A few faces were lit up the moment they saw the wine coolers, while others disagree. "But we already have a party starter. I already placed in Rent on our DVD—"

"No offense, but Rent is your party starter, not ours." Santana exclaimed.

"Yeah. And I don't have money to pay you." Brittany added shyly. Santana rolled her eyes while others looked at Brittany with a confused expression on their faces.

"Geez, if you don't want to drink, then don't. No one's forcing anybody to chug it down." Puck announced at the room.

"Alright." Rachel replied. "But promise me you'll get rid of the evidence before my dads see it tomorrow morning, okay?"

Puck grinned at Rachel's reply. "I say, let's get this party started!"

* * *

It was not very long when everybody started to drift away when Rachel's second party starter began. Just like before, they protested on watching the Phantom of the Opera but have to give in since they were in Rachel's house and Finn was good in convincing. Eventually, Kurt was the last man standing in the room, staying up until in the last quarter of the movie. He looked around the room and saw that almost everyone was in their dream land. He stood up walked towards the DVD player to stop. He was about to lay down when the clinking of bottles from the kitchen caught his attention. Kurt stood up once again and went towards the noise.

"I'm addicted to you, don't you know that you're toxic!" Puck whispered the lyrics to himself. He was holding a garbage bag in one hand, inside were empty wine cooler bottles. He was getting rid of the evidence as Rachel said before.

"So you keep promises, huh."

Puck almost jumped at the sound of Kurt's voice. He clasped his shirt at the chest part. "Never do that again, please."

Kurt grinned at the thought of Puck saying 'please'. "Mind if I keep you company? I'm not really sleepy yet."

"Actually…" Puck watched Kurt grab a stool and sat on it. It was always a pleasure for Kurt to watch Puck shift uncomfortably when he was around. " … I don't mind." He continued getting rid of the evidence. "So what do you think of the party?"

"Party?" Kurt replied. "The only party happened here was in the movie Rent when they performed ___La Vie Bohème_, well atleast that scene seemed much more fun than here." Puck looked at him confused. "When they celebrated after the protest?"

"Oh, right."

"I don't know about you, but the party kind of sucks."

"Maybe because you didn't drink any of the wine coolers I brought." Puck pointed at the remaining two packs of wine coolers at the counter.

"How did you— Never mind." Kurt pondered at the thought of Puck watching him during the movie. _Impossible, no. He's not watching me_. "It's just, well, it lacks the games. You know, Truth or Dare, FMK, Seven Minutes in Heaven, those stuff."

Puck grabbed the remaining wine coolers and sat across Kurt. "Oh." He settled the wine coolers at the counter. "What's FMK?"

Kurt shook his head as he let out a sigh. "It stands for Fuck, Marry, Kill. Three names would be given to you, and you have to choose from those three whom you want to fuck, marry, and kill."

"Oh." Puck nodded his head slowly. "Finn, Mike, and me."

"What?"

"FMK. Finn, Mike, and me."

"Are you serious?"

"Hey, you're the one who said the party was boring." Puck shrugged.

Kurt let out a small laugh before answering it. "Well." He leaned in to the table, squinting his eyes a little to think. "I would definitely kill you for throwing me in the dumpster, slushing me, and nailing our lawn furniture on the roof."

Puck let out a laugh after hearing the last reason. "Can't you just let that go? That was two years ago."

"Two years?" Kurt thought for a moment. "Huh, it was pretty long ago."

"Mhmm. Now it's my turn."

"What?"

"FMK? Remember?"

"But that game wouldn't be fair for you."

"What? Why?

"Because all you care about is the F part." Kurt grinned at his own joke as Puck let out a fake laugh.

"Ha! Ha! Very funny." Kurt started laughing while Puck retorted more at him.

"So what are you going to do with these wine coolers?" The smaller boy pointed at the counter.

Puck looked at them for awhile, then back at Kurt. He smiled devilishly before answering. "Know the game I've Never?" He slid one of the six-packs towards Kurt, whose one eyebrow was arched up.

"I know the game, but I don't know if I should play." Kurt looked down at the wine coolers as if he was scared to touch it. "I get pretty talky when I drink."

"Is that the reason why you never had a drink tonight?"

"Noah Puckerman." Kurt now looked at the boy, who still had a devilish grin on his face. A few seconds of searching an answer at the boy's face, Kurt again looked down at the bottles. _No, he did not watch me all night. Don't flatter yourself, Kurt_. He took a bottle from the container. Once he opened his bottle, the fizz sound resounded as Puck also opened his bottle at the same time. "I've never kissed a girl." Kurt started. Puck raised his bottle at Kurt, to which Kurt raised also his. They clinked their bottles together and drank.

"Is Brittany your first kiss?" Puck asked.

"First kiss with a girl, yes." Kurt looked down at his bottle, staring at the rim. "But no first kiss yet with a boy." He suddenly glanced at Puck's direction. Was it his imagination or did he saw Puck smiled? Puck was fast enough to tip his bottle again at his lips, having another drink of his cooler.

"My turn. I've never…" He looked around the room to get some suggestions. He looked through Rachel's framed awards and certificates. "I've never had anything lower than a B in math." Kurt drank from his bottle. After drinking so, he noticed the other boy didn't drink.

"You've never had anything lower than a B in math?" Kurt questioned.

"Nope, never." Puck smiled. The smaller boy stared at the other boy's smile; he watched as how the boy smiled and reflected glints of those hazel brown eyes.

"I don't believe you."

"Really? Then how come you don't see me at any math class you had attended?" Kurt tilted his head. Yes, ever since 7th grade, he hasn't seen Puck on any of his math class, even this year. "After 6th grade, I've been taking up advance programs in math. Jesse was my classmate last year—"

"Wait, Jesse was a senior. So you're taking up 12th grade Calculus?"

"Am I hypocrite? I mean, I toss nerds at the dumpsters, but here I am being a geek and taking up advance programs."

"So you took other AP classes?"

"Just two."

"Math and?"

"History."

Kurt burst out a small laugh. "You are a hypocrite." He said between giggles.

* * *

It was already past two in the morning when both boys finished their fifth bottle of wine coolers. It started as a game of I've Never, but it ended as just a casual talk having a drink. Kurt never imagined having a civilized talk with Puck, but here he was now at Rachel's kitchen, laughing at his jokes and blabbering about everything. "I'm sorry, am I boring you?" Kurt asked. He was talking about how to change a tire and how dirty the whole process is but sometimes therapeutic. "I think I've had enough of these." He pushed the remaining bottle towards Puck, who was finishing his sixth and last bottle.

Puck smiled at the boy. "No, you're not boring me. And yes, I agree that you've had enough." He took the bottle and stored it in the fridge. "It's two in the morning, we should get some sleep."

"Why are we not like this in school? Or in anywhere?" Kurt stammered.

"You're drunk." Puck chuckled.

"No I'm not." Kurt defended. "Seriously, why? I mean, in school you're a jerk— no offense. But tonight, you're pretty amazing."

"You think so?" Puck inched nearer to Kurt slowly. "Maybe it's because no one takes me seriously in school, or in anywhere else. People assume that I'm just a big ass who likes to party, so I act like one. But I do love parties." Puck stopped just in front of Kurt, who was now looking down. He may be tipsy be he still felt guilty at what Puck said; he was one of those people who assumed. Puck grabbed Kurt's wrist and pulled him to stand up. He pulled once more to go the living room where everybody was sleeping already. Puck faced Kurt, "Get some sleep, okay?"

Kurt smiled and walked to his side of the room, right beside Mercedes, while the other boy, walked right beside his best friend. "Just one more question." Kurt whispered at Puck. "What happened to you after the assembly and you came with Mr. Schue?"

He heard the other boy sigh before answering. "I almost had a fight with Sue— not physically, but in words." Kurt watched Puck's silhouette shift as he answered. "I knew how all of us worked hard for the assembly, and it just frustrated me that she just ruined it. I was right there in front of her, ready to burst and tell her how horrible she was, when suddenly Mr. Schue pulled me away to the corridor and into the choir room."

"And what did Mr. Schue told you?"

"You caught that, huh?" Puck shifted more. "He told me that Sue has her terrible ways, but insulting it would not make her change for the better." Kurt smiled at his silhouette and was sure that Puck smiled back. "Sleep tight, Hummel."

"You too, Puckerman." Both boys knelt down at their respective places, and lay down. Kurt thought at how Puck acted tonight. He wasn't lying that Puck was amazing tonight, he was funny and opinionated. Kurt smiled as he relay the night's events on his mind. He drifted awat as the smile stayed on his lips.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you for those who reviewed and tracked my story! **** All your positive feedbacks made my day. :D I would also like to thank **evol love **for suggesting some people who can do some beta works. **** Unfortunately, no one replied yet, lol! Nonetheless, I'll continue my search. XD So be warned, there will be some wrong grammar, and for that, I am truly sorry! :(**

** So from now on, I decided to use some lines/scenes from episodes for future chapters. :D I'll let you guys know what episode I included or something. In this chapter though, I didn't use any episode. But what I did was a little foreshadowing of Puck's juvie visit.**

**All I own is this plot. :D Enjoy! Read&Review! :D**

**

* * *

**

**CHAPTER 2

* * *

**

The smell of eggs, bacon, and waffles was swimming across the living room. Kurt started to stir around as the sound of the plates and laughter was becoming louder and louder. He fluttered his eyes first, and then sat up as quickly as possible. He was the only one sleeping now. He looked at the clock and saw it was almost 8 in the morning. Kurt groaned as he realized he only had five hours of sleep at most. "Five hours of sleep." He groaned as he ran circles on his temples.

"Breakfast is ready!" Mercedes chirped to Kurt. "Boy, are you alright? You look like you're up all night doing a paper." She walked up to Kurt, who was still sitting down on the mattress that was laid down for their party.

"I'm fine." He lied and smiled to his bestfriend. Mercedes looked at him skeptically, but extended her hand to help the boy up. After doing so, Mercedes went back to the dining room where the others were while Kurt glanced first at a mirror to fix his hair and look.

"Good morning!" Rachel beamed as Kurt walked in. All the others followed a good morning chirp to him as Kurt replied a good morning to them too. He grabbed a plate of waffles and some bacon as the whole group continued their discussion.

"What do you mean I'm not badass enough?" Puck's voice made Kurt look at the boy. He was his normal self, the bully badass self. Just as he thought that the boy he spoke to last night was just an act and gone, Puck looked at him. For a second, his hazel brown eyes met with Kurt's blue green eyes. Puck's lips lifted a little, indicating a smile to come up. But he went back to Santana's eyes as she answered back.

"I'm just saying, a person cannot identify himself as a badass if he has not been in prison." Santana shrugged as she sneakily took a strip of bacon from Brittany's plate.

"I don't really see your point, Santana." Rachel intervened. "A prison is not a place for badass people, it's a place for bad people— criminals."

"Not all people who are imprisoned are criminals." Mike joined the discussion. "I know someone who dragged a parking meter using a pick-up truck just to get some change. He got in for two weeks."

"I rest my case." Santana smiled at Rachel, who looked displeased at Mike's argument.

"Anyway, as far as I'm concerned, when it comes to badassnes, I'm number one." Puck bit his last piece of bacon. He glanced at his watch and then stood up. He grabbed his plates and went to the sink. "I have to go—"

"What, it's just almost 8. Where are you going this early?" Finn asked. Kurt, who kept his eyes on his plate of waffles, looked up at Finn and Puck.

"Oh well, you know, stuff." Puck replied. He looked once again at Kurt, and at that moment, he understood where Puck was going.

* * *

Puck shifted his bag on his shoulders as he exited William McKinley High School. He was halfway across the parking lot when someone caught his attention. He smiled at himself as he walked nearer to the pale boy. "What are you doing here, Hummel?"

"I just wanted to make sure you didn't cheat last night." He extended his hand at Puck and signaled to give his bag to him, to which Puck obliged. Kurt rummaged through his bag and found a large book inside. He took it out. "The Calculus 7." He sounded impressed.

He flipped through the pages as Puck watched him scan every page of it. "Now, are you convinced?"

"Yes. But I'm still having doubts you attend AP History classes." He gave the bag and the book back, as he Puck laughed a bit. "So why does it seems like Finn doesn't know about this?"

"Look Hummel, I love to stay and talk, but I don't think school is a good place for that." He looked around the school's parking lot. "Coach Beiste began an extra football practice on Saturdays for guys who need extra work, and I think Azimio's one of them. Unless you want Azimio to join our conversation, then it's no problem for me."

Kurt suddenly looked alarmed at the moment Azimio's name was mentioned. He looked around cautiously. He weighed his options, and finally spoke. "Fine, I'll go. My dad needs help in the shop—"

"Can I come?" Kurt threw a look at Puck. "Hey, I just need some proof that you can change a tire or tinker a car engine."

Kurt opened his car and sat on the driver's seat. "Take my word for it or leave it, Puckerman."

Puck grinned at Kurt as he started the engine. Puck inched himself nearer to the window. "Drive safely, Kurt." Kurt looked shocked at Puck; it was the first time in ages for Puck to call him by his first name. He smiled at the boy who stepped away from the car. Kurt shifted his car to drive, and drove away.

* * *

The boy, in his working jumpsuit, was covered with oil. The sun was scorching when he was working on his third car. He looked under it, placed a jack under the frame near the tire, and started pumping it to raise the car from the ground. Just as he said last night, this kind of work was therapeutic for him. It always makes him stop thinking of something, well in this case, someone. He thought about what happened last night. _Puck acted as if he's human— atleast a civilized human._ He thought about how awkward it is, without the alcohol, to have atleast a conversation with the boy who made his highschool a living hell before. He took the cross wrench from the ground, and started loosening the nuts on the tire. Just as he unscrewed one, his father approached him coming from inside the house.

"Kurt?"

"Yeah?" He was stepping on the wrench, trying to loosen another nut from the tire.

"You know anyone by the name Noah?" Burt scratched his head as he asked.

Kurt almost fell from the wrench as he slipped the moment he heard his dad. His dad dashed towards him to help him stand up, but Kurt immediately stood and straightened himself up. "Wha— What? Why?" He looked at his dad and realized he was holding a wireless phone, he was holding on the mute button.

"He's on the line." He gave Kurt the receiver.

The boy held on the receiver's mute as he went inside the house hurriedly. "Hello?"

"So since we're both in a safe place to talk, I figured I should answer you."

"What?" Kurt closed his eyes as he rubbed his temple. "Wait, are you sure you dialed the right number?"

"This is Kurt Hummel, right?"

"Yes."

"I dialed right then." Puck sat back more on his chair as he continued. "So you asked something to me before right?"

Kurt didn't reply. He closed his eyes once more to remember. He was so focused in changing tires that he almost forgot. "Yes, I asked about Finn not knowing these AP classes. But as of the moment, I'm not currently interested on that—"

"Oh, well, what then?"

Kurt sighed before answering. "Don't get me wrong, Puck, but it's kinda weird for us to talk like this, you know."

"And it's not weird for you to follow me at school after my class?"

"I told you I just needed to check you didn't cheated last night." Kurt replied. "It's just that this needs to getting used to."

There was a long pause when both boys didn't speak. Finally, Puck spoke up. "I didn't tell anyone about the AP classes— not even my mom. It's something to do with their expectations. Remember what I said last night? I lived under their expectations. Everybody looks down on me and doesn't even bother to ask what subjects I'm taking next semester or something. In a shorter explanation, nobody cares, including Finn." Puck took a deep breath, and spoke once more, this time more calmly. "I'm sorry if you feel awkward on me talking to you a lot more than the others. You're easy to talk to, Kurt. You're the first one who talked to me about something not related to football girls, or being a badass." Puck chuckled a little to himself. "I don't know, I just felt that…" Puck's voice trailed away. _I just felt that you cared or something_. Puck finished his sentence in his thoughts.

Kurt can hear other boy's sincerity through the phone. But at the same time, he can hear his dad calling out for him to help on something. "Uhm, I have to go. I'm—"

"Busy. Yeah, I know. See you at school. *click*"

There was now a dead tone beeping on the receiver. Kurt dropped the phone on the sofa and walked out to his dad to help. He continued changing the tires, but this time, he couldn't stop thinking about what Puck said. He couldn't help himself feel guilty again.

"Everything alright?"

"What?" Kurt asked, he was now tightening a nut with a wench.

"I asked if everything's alright." Burt repeated. He looked down at his son from where he was sitting. "That Noah guy, is he good to you?"

"Puck's a good guy." Kurt abruptly stopped at what he was doing. _Did I just say that? _Kurt shook his head trying to continue."I mean, he bullied me in the past, but when he joined glee club, he stopped."

Burt nodded a little. "Puck… Sounds like—"

"Puckerman, Dad. He's Noah Puckerman, Finn's bestfriend." He stood up and looked at his dad who was sitting on the table. Burt was wiping something with a rag; his eyebrows furrowed trying to remember who Puck was. He then stopped and looked at Kurt.

"The kid who nailed our lawn furniture on our roof?" Kurt nodded at his dad. "I don't want you dating him."

Kurt's eyes widened up at his dad. "He's straight. And who mentioned we're dating?"

"Well he called you here—"

"Friends do that." Kurt defended.

"Yeah, well relationship starts with being friends." Burt answered back. He stood up and laid down the things he held on the table. He wiped his hand on a cleaner towel, and then grabbed his coffee mug. He walked past Kurt towards the kitchen door. "It's enough that he's connected to this family as Finn's bestfriend. I don't want a hooligan that runs around and nailing furniture up on our roof."

"That was two years ago, dad! Let it go!" Kurt replied as his dad stepped inside the house. "And we're not dating!"

* * *

**A/N: Please make me happy by writing a review! :D Whether it's a good or bad one, lol!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Before reading this chapter, I would like to start by saying:  
(1) Thank you to those who tracked and reviewed! :)  
(2) Thank you to PteraWaters for doing such an awesome job in beta-ing! :)**

**Moving on, I hope you'll like this chapter. Not much happened, but it's something. Lol!  
Foreshadowed a little from a scene in the episode Duets.**

**I don't own anything, just the plot. ;) Read&Review!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 3**

* * *

The weekend passed by as a blur for Kurt. He spent his Sunday helping his dad around the shop and although he laid that night on his bed dead tired and yearning for sleep, Puck's unexpected phone call seem to popped up in his mind always.

"_Nobody cares_." Puck's voice resonated in his brain. For hours, he flipped and turned on his bed, trying to find a spot comfortable enough to rest his mind and make it stop thinking, but in the end, he ended up facing the ceiling, deep in his thoughts. _I did the right thing, right? I mean, it was kinda awkward to talk to Puck._

"_Nobody cares_." He covered his face with his hands. Puck's voice continued on his head. "_You're easy to talk to, Kurt_." The boy sighed as he slipped his hands on his sides again. "Talk. I'll talk to him tomorrow." After a minute or so, he finally turned to his sides and forced himself to sleep.

* * *

"I'm not saying Sam's better than you, he's just good." Puck said while exiting the boy's locker room, followed by Finn. They both just finished a shower from their daily gym session and were talking about the new quarterback.

"Okay fine, forget that he's the new quarterback. But aren't you a little mad that he's starting to like Quinn?" Finn asked as they approach his locker.

"Why would I get mad?" Puck leaned on the lockers while Finn opened his. "Quinn and I are free birds; we can flock around with anybody we want. Hold on, I thought making Sam join glee club was your idea?"

"It was." Finn closed his lockers as he swung his bag on his shoulders. He let out a sigh before continuing. "To be honest, I'm just worried that now he's the most popular kid in school, he might get the lead also—" Finn stopped at Puck's abrupt laughter.

"You're seriously turning into a male Rachel Berry," he said. Both boys started walking along the hallway towards Puck's locker. They dodged the people they passed, and finally stopped in front of the boy's locker. "You're just over-thinking it, Finn. Personally, I think Sam should join glee if we want to go to New York this year." He opened his locker to grab some books. "We'd probably be the only ones in Lima who will have a glimpse of the ocean— We'd be like gods." He glanced at Finn who smiled at the empty space.

"Like gods." He repeated Puck's words. "Yeah, I'm probably over thinking it."

"Yeah. Maybe you should find Sam and convince him more to join." Puck patted Finn's back, who still had his smile on his face. He returned to his locker grinning, he grabbed some more stuff and put it in his bag.

"I think I'll do that." Finn turned around and walked back to the boy's locker room. "Oh hey, Kurt!"

At the sound of his name, Puck's grin immediately faded. Right after the phone call and knowing that Kurt was uncomfortable with his presence, made him uncomfortable now. Puck thought about how he should react. _Do I continue being casual?_ He looked at the other direction. _Maybe I should just walk away?_ Puck heard Kurt clear his throat. Okay, now he was seriously considering walking away. But then, something pulled him into facing the boy. "What do you want, Hummel?" he called, his locker door between them.

Puck's less-than-welcoming manner didn't surprise Kurt. He actually expected Puck to ignore him. "I need to explain," he replied.

The boy slammed his locker shut to look at Kurt. "I get what you said the other day. Don't need to explain." As he left to go towards the cafeteria, Puck called back, "I'll leave you alone." Before he got too far, Puck heard Kurt's hurried footsteps behind him, trying to catch up.

"That's not what I meant." Kurt held onto the bag hanging from his shoulder. "Can't we find some place to talk?" he asked Puck. Walking through the corridors was always like a battlefield for Kurt. Every day he had to find a way to get to his class without bumping into Karofsky. If he was spotted today, his right shoulder wouldn't be too happy, since that was the one that hit the lockers more often than not.

Puck started to slow down, thinking, _What am I going to lose?_ Turning the corner, Puck saw that, luckily, the choir room was empty. After settling themselves inside the room, neither spoke. Puck stared at Kurt and vice versa, neither stepping up to start the conversation, probably because neither knew how to start what they wanted to say to each other.

"Okay, this is a waste of time," Puck spoke as he stepped closer to the door.

"Fine, I'll start." Kurt raised a hand to stop Puck. "What I said on the phone does not mean I don't want to talk to you. It's just that it needs getting used to."

"You need to get used to it?" Puck asked, to which Kurt nodded. "Getting used to talking to me?" The other boy continued to nod. "Okay, I don't know if that's offensive or just plain weird."

"I am not weird," Kurt insisted defensively.

"So should I take it as an offensive comment?"

"No— Look, the point is I still want to talk to you, just give it time. Why are you laughing?" Kurt asked. Puck was chuckling to himself.

"I'm sorry, but you're exactly like Finn." He chuckled a bit more before speaking up again. "You guys over-think too much."

"Well, do you blame me if I need more time to get used to talking to a boy who tormented me for a great number of years?" Kurt raised an eyebrow to the other boy who was still grinning.

"Alright, I get it, you need time." Puck shrugged, his grin starting to fade. "I'm sorry you felt like I tortured you in the past, or whatever."

Kurt adjusted his bag as both boys went right back to staring at one another. "What's done is done, Puck. Now can we go and have some lunch?" He motioned his hand towards the door and Puck shoved his hands in his pockets, taking the lead. As he passed by Kurt, the boy fell into step beside him.

"I really am sorry," Puck said without looking at the boy beside him.

"Apology accepted," Kurt replied calmly as they both exited the room.

* * *

"This sucks, no more Britney Spears songs," Santana groaned as she grabbed her bag from the floor. She was not at all thrilled about Mr. Schue's announcement about what happened Friday when Sue called him to the principal's office.

"At least we're not disbanded," Tina tried to cheer them up.

"Besides, religious songs are not really boring. They're kinda good," Mercedes said.

"Not good enough for Sectionals." Mercedes replied to Artie's off-hand comment with a you're-not-helping look. "I'm just saying, woman!"

"Well," Rachel started joining the conversation. "As long as this glee club has me we can—"

"Walk us to the car, Puckerman?" Santana called rather loudly, intentionally interrupting Rachel, who gave the cheerio a frustrated look, but didn't try to continue. Ignoring the power tension in the room, Puck grabbed his bag and walked out of the room with Brittany and Santana.

Meanwhile, after fixing his bag, Kurt went up to Finn and tapped his shoulder. "Hey Finn, can I hitch a ride?"

"You left your car?" Finn replied with a smile on his face.

"Kind of. The oil needs changing."

"Sorry Kurt, I'm going to Rachel's first." Finn said as Rachel approached them. "Why don't you take the bus?"

"The bus?" Kurt couldn't stop himself from making a disgusted expression. He never took buses. He only hitched rides from Mercedes or Finn when he doesn't take his car to school. "I'd rather walk," he said while walking through the empty corridors with Finn who held hands with Rachel.

"I guess we can drop you off," Rachel offered. Finn opened the door for Rachel and Kurt, leading them to the parking lot of the school.

"But," Finn hesitated for awhile. "I'm saving gas."

"It's just a little drive," Rachel argued. Finn scrunched his face a little, because of course he couldn't say no to Rachel.

The three of them started walking towards the car when suddenly, Finn spoke again. "Wait, you can hitch a ride with Puck!"

"What?" Kurt and Rachel said in unison, looking at each other a little bewildered at their simultaneous responses, before turning back to Finn.

"Why? It's just Puck, he lives about 4 or 5 blocks away from your house." He tilted his head in Puck's direction, where both Kurt's and Rachel's gazes followed. Puck still stood beside Santana's car, ducking inside of the driver's window. Santana's car sat at such an angle that Kurt and his friends were unable for to see what Puck was doing, but Kurt was sure he was making out with Santana at the driver seat.

"No way," Kurt said. He thought how uncomfortable would that be, especially given their new kind of… _Was it friendship?_ Kurt asked himself. When Puck stood back from Santana's car, standing clear a meter away, it backed up and drove away. Then the boy walked towards his car, which sat beside Finn's, who gestured to grab Puck's attention. "Finn, no ple—"

"Hey Puck, do you mind if Kurt rides with you?" Rachel slapped Finn in the arm, but Finn ignored her as if nothing happened.

"Sure, no problem," Puck said as he opened his car.

"Well, that was easy." Rachel muttered in wonder while her boyfriend smiled widely. Finn pushed Kurt, who was dumbfounded at Puck's answer, towards the passenger seat of Puck's car, going as far as opening it for him. After doing so, he retreated to his car, got inside it with Rachel, waved a goodbye to his future step-brother and drove away.

Kurt shook his head as he watched the car turn into the street. Finally, frowning at the door Finn had opened for him, Kurt decided to sit in the passenger seat. "I hope you really don't mind," he told Puck who sat behind the wheel waiting for him.

"I don't actually," Puck replied, starting the engine and driving away.

* * *

**A/N: Please make me happy by writing a review! :D Whether it's a good or bad one, lol!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:  
(1) Thank you to PteraWaters for doing another wonderful job in beta-ing! I'm really learning a lot from you. ;D  
(2) Thank you to those who tracked and reviewed my story! :D  
(3) I'm sorry for the very slow update, been busy with school... Well, still busy with school actually. Lol!  
But hey, only two weeks left before Christmas break! YEEEEEY! And since I'm planning to start writing  
the fifth chapter after my finals, I will leave you guys a long chapter. ;) ****Enjoy! :D**

**Read&Review!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 4**

* * *

As usual, the whole drive home was awkward. Neither of them talked, Kurt looking outside his window and Puck's eyes staying on the road. Only the noise of the engine filled the air as it sputtered gray smoke from its exhaust.

"Finn's just trying to get a base, you know that, right?" Puck said, his voice making the other boy nearly jump. Both of them were so quiet, Kurt almost forgot he was in the car with Puck.

"What?" Kurt replied, looking at Puck whose eyes were still on the road.

"He's been trying to get to second base with Rachel. That's why he kept shoving you away."

Kurt's eyes widened with shock. "I don't want to hear Finn's bases problems, please," he shook his head as he exclaimed. He rolled his eyes and looked back again outside the window. "Also, your engine looks and sounds like it's dying." He saw the gray smoke coming from the exhaust on the side view mirror.

"Changing a tire doesn't make you an expert on cars," Puck replied.

"At least I know something about it," Kurt scoffed back. He glanced at Puck, who pursed his lips before answering.

"Maybe I should drop by to your dad's shop—"

"Don't!" Puck looked concerned at Kurt's sudden outburst. "I mean, our shop's too far away," he said rather unconvincingly. He looked back outside the window as he heard Puck chuckle. Kurt thought about what could possibly happen if Puck showed up in their shop. His dad would have given Puck the talk and mentioned the non-existent shotgun. "I see you and Santana going steady," Kurt said, in the hopes of changing the subject.

"Uhmm," Puck turned the steering wheel as they rolled onto a new street. "Yeah, she's going steady."

"And you're not going steady with her?"

The boy behind the wheel took a lot of time to reply. Instead, he kept throwing Kurt quick looks out of the corner of his eye. Puck weighed his options to tell or not to tell. He took another turn onto Kurt's street, slowing down as they approached his house. Finally he exclaimed, "I don't want to say this, because it's none of my business, but Santana's going steady… But not with me." He stopped right in front of the Hummels' and noticed the surprised expression coming from Kurt's face.

"If not with you, then who?"

"Seriously?" He squinted at the boy who still had the same expression on his face. "Okay, either you're blind or unaware of your surroundings," Puck joked. "I'd rather not say it to you because, as I've said, it's none of my business." Kurt continued looking at him, his mouth slightly open as Kurt wracked his brain for an answer for his own question.

Kurt stayed planted on his seat, still absorbing the news when Puck spoke once more, "You might want to get out now; your dad's snooping around." Kurt looked outside his window, and indeed, his dad was snooping around, though not discreetly. Burt was outside on the porch, both of his hands on his hips, wearing a scrunched up face that could be seen a thousand miles away. He was about to ask another question to Puck, when his dad suddenly moved towards the car.

"Oh God, I have to go." Kurt simultaneously grabbed his bags and opened his door as he stepped out. The moment he did so, his dad stopped walking and just watched him. "Thanks for the ride!"

"No problemo!" Puck smiled as he drove away and Kurt started walking towards the house.

"C'mon dad," he pulled his dad's arm and the man reluctantly followed, walking beside him.

"You know, his engine sounds terrible," Burt said in a matter-of-fact tone.

* * *

"Examen sorpresa la próxima reunion!" Mr. Schue announced right after the bell rung for the last time that day. Students gathered their stuff quickly as they hurriedly walked to the busy hallway. Mr. Schue waited for some students to disappear until he saw Mike and Puck still stuffing a couple of notebooks inside their bags. "Mike and Puck, emergency glee meeting right after this."

"But Tuesdays are for football, Mr. Schue," Mike informed his Spanish teacher.

"I'll talk to Coach Beiste. Besides, this is about Finn and Kurt," he said rather concerned as he walked out of the room towards the choir room. Both boys looked at each other before following Mr. Schue.

Puck was the last one to enter the choir room. As he made his way to the nearest seat, he couldn't help but notice that Finn, Kurt, and Rachel were missing. "Okay guys, I know that this meeting is sudden and a lot of you need to be somewhere else," he said, eyes on the Cheerios and the football players. "But as a glee club, we should consider ourselves a family. And as a family, you all have a right to know where and what's happening on Kurt and Finn."

"Yeah, where are they? I left Kurt some voicemails, but he's not replying to any of them," Mercedes shared.

"I asked Kurt if I could share with all of you what he shared with me during lunch over the phone," he paused before continuing. "Mr. Hummel collapsed this morning," Mr. Schue said with worry in his voice. The rest of the glee club replied with short gasps and looks of worries to one another. "Kurt and Finn took the day off to look after Mr. Hummel. I don't know when will Kurt be back, but Rachel told me that Finn would be back tomorrow or the next day."

"Is Mr. Hummel alright?" Artie asked.

"He's in a coma right now," he paused again, this time, everyone was quiet. "Meanwhile, I want you guys to arrange a meeting of some sort, to visit Kurt and Mr. Hummel. Their family is in the rocks right now, and I just want the Hummel Family to know that we're here for them." The students in the room nodded in agreement. "Alright, I'll leave it to you," he said and walked out of the room. The students inside the room were still in the state of worrying. A bunch of them exchanged looks as no one spoke up, because usually right after Mr. Schue, Rachel would be the one to stand up and order them around.

With no Rachel Berry around, Mercedes took the chance. "So, I'm thinking we can all go right now?" She walked in front of them.

"We have Cheerio practice," Brittany replied.

"For once, Brittany's right," Santana added. "We have Cheerio practice, and the guys have football."

"So?" Quinn joined the conversation. "Kurt's also a Cheerio—"

"Was a Cheerio," Santana corrected.

"Once a Cheerio, always a Cheerio," Quinn snapped her new motto. She stood up and joined Mercedes. "I'm sure Sue's alright with this; she liked Kurt when he was part of the squad."

"I'm not sure about this," Artie said. "Since we football glee club guys," he said proudly, "don't practice on Mondays and Fridays, Coach Beiste really puts on extra work on us for missing."

"Yeah." Mike nodded with his eyebrows scrunched down as he remembered his 50 laps around the football field as a punishment when he was a minute late last practice. "I don't want to be late."

Puck raised his hand and exclaimed to the whole group, "I have an idea." All of them turned their heads to him, some of them with questioning looks. "Why not let close friends visit first, and then on the second visit, we'll all go together."

"Yeah, let's go with that," Santana said. With no time to waste, she linked pinkies with Brittany and together, they exited the choir room. Shortly, Artie and Mike started to walk towards the door when they noticed that Puck wasn't following them.

"Aren't you coming?" Mike asked.

"No." He stood from his seat, and walked towards Mercedes, Quinn, and Tina who were watching the others exit. "Finn's my boy. I think I should go with them."

Mike shrugged as Artie continued to wheel himself out. "Suit yourself."

Puck watched as his teammates left, he then turned toward Quinn and Mercedes who were bickering at each other on how to get to the hospital. He shook his head as he raised his hand to interrupt their bickering, "I know how to get there."

* * *

Kurt didn't dare leave his father's side. He stayed in the room from the beginning, and was not planning to leave it without the man. He slumped down on the chair beside his father's bed, thinking. He thought about his mother, about how this situation was the same. He thought about the days he waited for his mother to wake up, so that the first thing she would see would be her son. But that day never came, she never woke up. Kurt ran his hand on his cheek as tears fell from his eyes. After doing so, he heard a knock on the door. "Come in," he said weakly.

"Hey, look who's here," said Finn, trying to cheer up Kurt. He stepped aside, and let the three girls come in. Kurt smiled at his friends, stood up and hugged them. "Yeah, I'll leave you guys alone." Finn lumbered out of the room as they finished hugging Kurt.

"You okay?" Tina asked after hugging the boy.

"I'm fine," Kurt replied. "You shouldn't have come," he said to the three of them.

Quinn smiled at him as she replied, "Don't mind us." After doing so, she joined Mercedes and Tina who were standing beside Mr. Hummel's bed.

"How is he?" Mercedes asked. She tried to smile, but failed as worry was reflecting through her eyes.

Kurt smiled at his friends and said, "He's fine." He joined his friends beside his father's bed. He slipped his arm with Mercedes', linking their arms together. He leaned his head at her shoulders as he spoke, "Thank you."

"Oh, don't thank us. You should thank Puck," Quinn answered.

Kurt lifted his head from Mercedes' shoulder to look at Quinn, "He's here?"

"He drove us here. If it wasn't for him, we might never be here." Quinn laughed a little before continuing, "He's with Finn."

Kurt looked back at his father, but this time, his thoughts were surrounded with Puck.

* * *

"Are you sure you don't want us to get some food for you?" Mercedes asked. Tina and Quinn were waiting at the door. "Or at least join you here for the night?"

"Don't be ridiculous. There's classes tomorrow," Kurt argued. "And I'm fine, I'm not even hungry."

"Kurt, you haven't eaten all day," Tina said.

"I haven't had an appetite all day," Kurt corrected. "Look, I'm fine. If I want some food, I can get some or something," he lied. If he was hungry, he would still stay here. He couldn't stand not being in the same room as his dad for now. Mercedes moved towards the door as Kurt followed, pecking each of his friends on their cheeks as they left.

"Just text us, okay?" Mercedes asked, to which Kurt nodded. He watched and waved at his friends as they all turn a corner before closing the door.

Kurt was once again alone in the room, only him and his dad, whose only reply was the beeping sound from the machine. He moved towards his dad and tried fixing the blanket, making sure his dad was not cold. "They were worried about you, dad," Kurt said. He held his dad's hands when a knock came on the door. He sighed as he went to the door and opened it. "Finn, you don't have to knock— Oh." He looked at the visitor from head to toe. "What are you doing here? Where's Finn?"

"He went to Stix with the girls. Meanwhile," Puck lifted the plastic bag he was holding. "Let's eat." He pushed the door open and went to the table right away to place the bag. He started to mound out containers of food on the table.

"Does Finn know you're still here?"

"Yeah, I told him I'll stay here with you," Puck replied, still mounding containers out from the plastic. After doing so, he went to Mr. Hummel and said, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Hummel. My name's Noah Puckerman, and I'm here to make your son eat something." Then he went to Kurt and forced a plate on his hands. "Eat."

Kurt looked at Puck weirdly and mostly shocked at what he had done, but he was able to reply, "I'm not hungry." He gave back the plate to Puck, and just sat again on the chair. He heard the other boy went back to the table, and busied himself with the food. He then heard Puck grabbed another chair, and dragged it beside him. Kurt looked up and saw that Puck sat right beside him.

The beeping sound was the only sound that resonated in the room. Both boys looked intently at the person on the bed. Kurt's thought started drifting back toward his mother now. He started remembering her smell and how much he loved it. Kurt closed his eyes and started to remember her face. When suddenly Puck spoke up, "What's it feel like? You know, this." Kurt looked at Puck, whose eyes didn't wander around, but instead stuck on Burt.

"It feels like…" Kurt thought for a moment for the right phrase. "It feels like the end of the world." Puck looked at Kurt, and this time, Kurt was staring into blank space, as if watching something far away. "It's the same feeling when mom died," Kurt half-heartedly smiled, and looked down on his hands. "I honestly don't remember how I coped when she died. All I remember was him," Kurt looked at Mr. Hummel. "I remember how he held my hand tight when I used to cry. How he was always there beside me."

"He'll be alright," Puck said. Kurt looked at Puck and met his eyes, which started to glint the color of hazel. Somehow, the color made him relaxed a bit more, and this time, more loose when Puck's around. He broke away from their gaze to look back at his father.

"I know he'll be alright," Kurt said with determination. "He won't leave me behind all alone. He won't leave Carole, and Finn." He remembered his dad's promises to Finn about a couple of games during Superbowl season. He continued with a smile on his face, "I know he's fighting. Funny, you're the only person that asked that."

"About this?"

"No, about how it feels like when my one and only parent are on the verge of not waking up."

Puck didn't respond at Kurt. He looked at him and saw him staring at his dad. His lips were curled upward, making a small smile on the boy's face but his eyes reflected sadness. His blue green eyes were dull and watery. Puck looked at Burt while he let out a sigh.

"How about you?" Kurt asked. "What's it feel like to have both parents?"

Puck smiled before answering, "Our dad left us."

"Oh," Kurt looked at Puck. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Puck looked at Kurt with a smile on his face and then back at Burt. "Nat was only 2 when he left us."

"I'm sorry?" Kurt looked apologetic. "Who's Nat?"

"Natalie, my sister." It was now Puck's turn to look down on his hands. He never mentioned his sister to anyone but Finn. "She's in 4th grade."

"I never knew that."

"Well, it's not something people usually ask to me," Puck smiled to Kurt, to which the boy smiled back. Seconds were held before the two boys looked back at Burt.

The beeping sound from Burt's machine filled the air once again before Kurt replied, "What does she look like?"

"Well, she's blonde."

"But your mom's a brunette, right?"

"And so is my dad," Puck shrugged.

Kurt squinted as he process in his mind what Puck meant. Finally getting it, he exclaimed slowly, "Ooooh."

"Yup, what a fucked up Jew family we are."

"Shh!" Kurt hushed. He then lowered his voice in a whisper, "Don't curse right in front of my dad."

Puck laughed and then turned to Mr. Hummel, "Didn't mean to curse, Mr. Hummel." Both boys chuckled a bit before Puck once again tried, "C'mon, let's eat." He stood up, and this time, Kurt followed him towards the food on the table.

* * *

**A/N: Please make me happy by writing a review! :D Whether it's a good or bad one, lol!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:  
(1) I am forever grateful to PteraWaters for checking my work! :D  
(2) Thank you to those who tracked and reviewed my story! :D  
(3) My shortest chapter as of now, but hey, something is always better than nothing. ;) Anyway, in this chapter,  
I concluded that Puck and Santana are just best friends and nothing more. If you don't like it... Oh well! Lol!**

**Read&Review!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 5**

* * *

"Why are you so addicted to Super Mario?" Kurt amusedly asked Puck. They had been talking into the wee hours by now, but both boys hadn't noticed it yet. Like the night of their celebratory party, they spent the time asking questions of each other.

"Did you get that from Mercedes and Quinn?" Puck laughed as he saw Kurt nodded. "What's not to be addicted to? I mean, c'mon. It's an awesome game—"

"It's a game about saving a damsel in distress from turtles, what's so different about it from any other game?"

"Well, if you look it that way."

"And in what other way can you look at Super Mario, hmm?"

Puck scrunched his face thinking. "All right, that's the only way you can look at Super Mario," he admitted and the other boy smiled triumphantly. He opened his mouth to argue some more when a knock interrupted them. Both boys turned towards the open door and saw a nurse.

"Just doing the morning rounds, Mr. Hummel." The nurse smiled as she stepped into the room and looked at the machine attached to Kurt's dad.

"Wait, morning?" Kurt raised his eyebrows as he turned to Puck. "Exactly, what time is it?"

"It's about 7 in the morning," Puck replied after glancing at his watch.

"So we've been talking all night?"

"Looks like it," Puck answered. "Are you sure you don't want to school today?"

"Everything seems pretty stable here," the nurse said.

"Thank you." Kurt smiled at her as she exited, and at the same time, Carole came up and entered the room.

"Hey boys, how's he doing?" She went straight to Burt, held his hands and tucked him some more.

"The nurse said he's stable," Kurt answered and then turned to Puck. "Yes, I'm sure. Besides, I don't want to leave him." He looked at his dad and Carole with a hopeful smile.

"Is that about going to school?" Carole spoke before Puck. She walked besides the boys before continuing. "Kurt, I think it would be best if you go to school. Finn will be there today."

"I would feel a whole lot better if I stay here though," Kurt stood his ground. Carole sighed as she looked at Puck defeated. She retreated back to Burt as Puck grabbed his bags and started walking towards the door.

"Say hello to Mr. Hummel for me when he wakes up!" Puck said.

* * *

Puck slammed his car door shut while he swung his bag over his shoulder. He moved across the school's parking lot, yawning his way through students. On most days, he would try and scout out some new nerds to threaten for lunch money, but right now, he was far too tired to scout and threaten. He thought staying in the hospital with Kurt might be a bad idea, but dismissed it right away after realizing he could sleep during his class.

"Who did you hook up with, Puckerman?" He turned his head towards the voice and found the brunette Cheerio walking by his side now. By now he and Santana were in the hallway, people parting just to let them pass. Even though they were part of the glee club, people still saw them as the dynamic duo who you didn't want to mess with.

"What?"

"Don't play dumb with me; you're wearing the same clothes from yesterday," Santana replied. "Is it Mercedes, Quinn, or Tina?"

"Uhm, none of them?"

"Oh God, please don't tell me you hooked up with Dwarf." She scrunched up her nose just as she said her nickname for Rachel.

"Who, Rachel? No!" Puck exclaimed. "She's dating Finn! I won't do that to my boy ever again." He shook his head as he reached over his locker and opened it. "I didn't hook up with anyone, I just stayed in the hospital—"

"With Kurt?"

"Yup."

"Talking? The whole night?"

"Until 7 this morning actually." Santana raised her eyebrows towards Puck. Seeing her reaction, he said, "What?" He grabbed a book and stuffed his bag inside his locker.

"You're not telling me something," Santana guessed.

"Like what?"

"Like something to do with Porcelain," Santana scoffed. "You spend loads of time with him now and then."

"I'm just keeping him company in the hospital, okay?" Puck defended before closing his locker shuts.

"Fine. To be honest, you suck as a guy best friend, not being honest and telling me something."

"And you suck as girlfriend. By now, aren't you supposed to be cuddling by your locker?"

Santana immediately shot a fist at Puck's arm as he playfully chuckled. "Save a seat for me at lunch," she said as she walked passed him.

Puck went towards his next class, and on his way, he found Finn at his locker. He leaned on the lockers beside Finn's and said to him with a smirk on his face, "So, how was the Stix with the girls?"

"Dude, where were you?" Finn slammed his locker, showing his frustration at Puck. "It was awkward! You know, having your girlfriend and ex-girlfriend at the same dinner."

"Something came up." Finn started pacing his way towards their next class, as Puck tried to catch up with him. "Besides, it was only Rachel and Quinn, the worst thing they could do was bicker—"

"Their bickering..." Finn said with an exhausted tone. He held his head as if he was experiencing a headache and spoke again, "…they kept bickering as if there's no tomorrow. And to top it all off, Mercedes and Tina were there."

"So what if they were there?"

"They bicker more. I felt so drained after dinner," Finn said as they arrived at their classroom while the bell rang, walking straight to the back of the room and sitting in their usual seats. "So what came up last night?"

"I just lost track of time when I was at the hospital."

"With Kurt?" Finn whispered with a tone of surprise. The teacher in front of them started talking about literature throughout history.

"Yeah." Puck yawned his reply as he leaned on his desk and rested his head over his arms. He tried his best to listen to Finn, or even the teacher. But he couldn't resist his drooping eyes which were screaming for sleep, until they finally closed and he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Lunch came eventually and students busied themselves with their food. When Puck entered the cafeteria, Jacob was in front of the line, so Puck went straight to the blogger and mouthed the words "move Jewfro" to him. Immediately, the blogger obeyed and stepped aside, while Puck took his tray and grabbed some food. After doing so, he turned once again to Jacob to say, "Pay for me, will you?" Without waiting for an answer, he went straight to an empty table beside the glee club and started eating.

Before long, the seat beside him pulled back and a tray landed on the table. Knowing who it was, Puck spoke up while popping a tot in his mouth. "Where's Brittany?"

"With Quinn." Santana plopped herself on the seat while rolling her eyes.

"Still not good with Quinn, eh?"

"I totally deserve that spot more than her. She was goddamn pregnant last year!" Santana exclaimed. She forked a baby tomato in her mouth, and noticed the boy sitting beside her remained silent. "Still not over her?"

"Totally over her," Puck replied.

"Then why are you like that whenever I mention her pregnancy?"

Puck sighed before answering, "It's not just about her, okay?"

Santana nodded while chewing her salad. "Beth?" She said between bites.

Puck looked at her while he lay back on his chair with a can of soda in his hand. "So, why was I bad best friend this morning?"

"Do you remember the day me and B started?"

"Like dating?" He watched Santana nodded at him. "Yeah, you spent a lot of time with her then— Wait a minute." He placed his soda on the table and leaned towards Santana to whisper. "You're not saying that I'm…" His voice faded as he watched her nodded some more.

"It all started with talking," Santana said as she looked inside her training bag and grabbed a water bottle.

"What makes you think that Kurt and I would end up like you two?"

"Oh c'mon," She said as she opened her water. "Brittany's obviously an openly bisexual while Kurt's openly gay. Us two? We're the badasses, the only difference is I'm more badass than you." Santana smiled at him while she took a drink from her bottle. "Total parallel."

"Okay, first, unlike you, I'm straight—"

"Thought I was too," Santana interjected but Puck ignored her.

"Second, what makes you think you're more badass than me?"

"I don't think, I know." Santana grinned more when he saw defeat on Puck's eyes.

Puck lay back on his seat again as he sighed, "I'm not gonna be like you."

Santana lowered her bottle from her mouth and calmly spoke again, "I'm not saying you two will be like us. All I'm saying is, well, just be true to yourself. It's much easier that way." She lifted a corner of her mouth to smile at her bestfriend.

Puck looked at her and just sighed some more. After rubbing his forehead to think, he gathered his stuff and stood up. "Where are you going?" Santana asked. It was still too early to go to their classrooms, in fact, there were still 30 minutes left for their lunch period.

"I'm gonna prove to you that I'm more badass than you," Puck joked as he walked away from the table.

* * *

**A/N: I could not wait to start on Chapter 6 since I have a lot of things settled for it, lol! I'm thinking of posting it after Christmas,  
but before New Year... Speaking of, please make me happy this Christmas by making a review for me! :D Lol!**

**Merry Christmas to you and all of your families! :D**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:  
(1) Special thanks to PteraWaters! :D Happy new year to you too!  
(2) Thank you to those who tracked and reviewed my story! :D  
(3) Lol, my chapters are getting shorter and shorter! XD Anyhoo, I hope you like this chapter!**

**Read&Review :)**

* * *

**CHAPTER 6**

* * *

"Kurt? Wake up!" Finn violently shook the boy who fell asleep in the uncomfortable hospital chair. "Your dad's awake!"

From slumping on the chair, Kurt immediately shot straight up to stand beside Mr. Hummel's bed. "Dad?" Indeed, his dad was awake, for the first time since he has been in the coma. Kurt held his hands and squeezed, and the sensation of Burt's hand squeezing back made him tear up. He smiled faintly as he told him, "We're here."

"You're okay," Carole reassured him, holding Burt's other hand. "Finn, call the doctor," she said turning to Finn who was at the foot of the bed. The big boy stumbled quickly out of the room as Carole turned back to Burt, "How're you feeling?"

Burt opened his dry mouth, but made no sound. He closed his lips, and opened them once more to try again. "A little thirsty." His voice was raspy and weak, but he smiled at Carole and Kurt, to which both replied with a smile.

"The doctor's here." Finn came in the room, followed by a guy in white holding a clipboard.

"Ah, good morning, Mr. Hummel, Ms. Hudson," the doctor said. "And welcome back, Mr. Hummel." By this time, a nurse came into the room as well to help the doctor assess Burt's situation.

Burt replied with a smile as the doctor approached and studied the machines surrounding the patient. Carole and Kurt stood beside Finn as they watched the nurse take Burt's pulse.

"It's nice to see him back," Finn said to the two. "Oh, by the way Kurt, we have glee practice later."

"Seriously, how can you think of glee right now?" Kurt protested.

"Because you've been out for a week." Finn looked down at Kurt.

"Well, I'm sorry then if my dad was in a coma for a week—"

"Stop bickering." Carole told them off. It was usually Burt's job to restrain them from arguing, probably because he was scarier and stricter than her.

"Well, he is remarkably stable at this time." The doctor flipped through some papers on his clipboards. "I'm gonna have to call someone to put in some fluids in him. The first few hours are crucial, so we still have to keep a close eye on his vitals until probably sometime on Sunday."

"But how about the machine?" Carole asked.

"I'll be getting off of it after 24 hours, depending on his condition. Could you sign some papers for us, Ms. Hudson?" The doctor said as she nodded.

Before exiting the room, Carole turned around facing both boys. "Don't argue."

After watching Ms. Hudson exit with the doctor, Kurt grabbed his phone from his pocket and started texting people about his dad, just as he was scrolling and selecting some of his contacts, a name came across his mind as it flashed on his screen. Noah Puckerman. He thought about sending his group message to him, before asking Finn, "Hey, where's Puck?"

"What?" Finn replied with a surprising tone.

"I haven't talked to him since, like, two days ago or something." Kurt pressed the sent key and waited for the message to be sent.

"Maybe because you guys don't usually talk that often?" Finn sarcastically guessed.

"Oh riiiiight," Kurt mocked Finn as messages started to pour in to Kurt's phone.

_Mercedes: that's great! will visit right away when i finish my paper. does that mean we get to see you now in glee practice? :)_

_Tina: Hooray to Mr. Hummel! Hope he gets better. ;) Glee practice?_

_Quinn: Will pray more for his continuous recovery. :) Glee practice! Okay?_

"Why is everybody so giddy about me going to glee?" Kurt asked while replying to his messages.

"I don't know, maybe we just miss you?"

"Finn, I know you're lying—"

"Mr. Schue might recruit one or more people to join the club," Finn said, rushing his words and hoping Kurt didn't catch that.

"Wait, what?" Kurt said with confusion. More people getting to join glee club meant the chance of getting a solo would become next to impossible. "What do you mean one or more?"

"Oh you know, since Matt's gone, we need another mem—"

"I know that, but one OR MORE?" Kurt emphasized the last two words.

"Look, with you out of the picture for the whole week, it worried Mr. Schue. So instead of recruiting one member, he said he would try to recruit atleast two for the club. I guess for safety reasons." Finn smiled at the nurse as she exited when another person came in to check Mr. Hummel's fluid levels.

"This can't be happening." Kurt rubbed his temple, thinking of how much competition he would be dealing with after this. "I can't believe I'm thinking about getting a solo instead of my dad," Kurt said, frustrated with himself.

"Look, it's for the team—"

"Oh, and how many times did you say that in front of the whole glee club?" Kurt's fingers stopped circling his temple as he turned toward Finn.

Finn scrunched his face before turning himself away from Kurt. "Twice… Or more." Kurt went back on rubbing his temple as he shook his head at Finn. "If it gets us to Nationals, I wouldn't mind not getting a solo." The boy shrugged as he watched Kurt.

"That's because you had hundreds of solos," Kurt said.

"Are you guys bickering again?" Carole just entered the room as the guy was finishing up with Burt. "Seriously, how can you guys discuss glee when your father just woke up from his coma?" She addressed both boys desperately. Holding hands with Burt, she kept whispering words of encouragement to him, "Keep strong, okay?"

Finn squinted at her mom as he watched them. "OUR dad?"

"Wait." Kurt held up his hand, his eyes wide, staring to Carole and his dad. "I smell…" Kurt's voice faded as he too squinted towards his dad. "… An engagement?" He whispered but loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.

Kurt watched his dad's eyes pan from Carole, to Finn, to him, and even to the guy checking his fluids. Finally, Burt replied with a small nod at the two boys. "Oh!" The small boy jumped, his hands clasped on his mouth to restrain himself from shrieking out of excitement. He then ran to Carole to hug her as he asked, "When did this happen? Congratulations!"

"Just about last week." Carole smiled at Kurt as the boy went to congratulate his dad as well. Burt's smile was from ear to ear as his son hugged him. "Finn?"

Finn didn't move an inch as the news of his mom's engagement registered in his mind. "And you're telling me this now?" he asked his mom.

"I'm sorry, it's just that, we were finding a good time to tell the good news to both of you," Carole explained. "Then this happened."

Finn's expression didn't change. He felt his mind racing with thoughts of his mom getting married to Mr. Hummel, and not to his dad. "I need some, uh, air." He walked out of the room, confused at what had just happened.

The big boy stumbled through some busy hallways before settling himself in a seat. He thought about his dad, he didn't know him but he wished he did. Honestly, all that was left of Mr. Hudson in Finn was the way he had imagined his father. He imagined his dad being taller than him, having a great smile and shorter hair. Unexpectedly, Kurt sat down beside Finn.

Minutes passed before Kurt spoke up, "Are you okay?"

It took a while before Finn replied, "Honestly, I don't know." He cupped his hands on his face as he started thinking.

"I'm happy for them," Kurt replied. "I've never seen my dad this happy. Well, except when my mom was here, but that's another story."

Finn took a deep breath before replying to Kurt, "I'm happy for them too, super happy. But…" He restrained himself from speaking anymore further.

"But?"

"I feel that if this happens, I'll forget about my dad," Finn said in a quiet voice. "I'm scared to forget him."

"But that'll never happen. 'Cause I won't let it happen." Finn looked at Kurt and saw him wearing a warm sincere smile. "And your mom won't let it happen. Heck, I think my dad wouldn't even let that happen." Kurt chuckled as the other boy smiled back.

Minutes passed by again as both boys stayed silent. Finn deep in his thoughts as Kurt watched people passing by the hallway. "Thanks Kurt," Finn finally said.

"Hey, that's what step-brothers are for." Kurt smiled as he nudged the boy jokingly.

* * *

**HAPPY 2011 TO YOU! :D**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:  
**(1)** I'm sorry for a veeeery late update! I've been busy with my school and life. -_-  
Anyway, this chapter has a lot of changes, and I mean A LOT. Well, not really A LOT,  
but kind of a BIG change. Lol! Okay, now I'm rambling, I'll stop now. :D  
Oh, just so you know, I don't know how to speak French. So just tell me if  
there's something wrong with the French in this chapter. XD  
**(2)****** Special thanks to PteraWaters! :D  
**(3)** Thank you to those who tracked and reviewed my story! :D**

* * *

**CHAPTER 7**

* * *

"I can't believe you made me go to today's rehearsals," Kurt said while slamming his car door shut. "I can't believe you forced my dad into letting me to attend this practice." He watched Finn get out of the car and lock the doors.

"I didn't _force_ him. Pleaded with him actually," Finn shrugged as both boys started walking towards the school building.

"You know what? I'll blame you if they hired a wedding coordinator already when we get ba— Why are you laughing?" Kurt crossed his arms as he glared at Finn, who was chuckling to himself.

"Will you take a deep breath and just relax?" Finn said as they climbed the stairs to the second floor. "Can't you just be happy that you're finally attending the rehearsals?"

"The only thing that makes me happy right now is knowing my father's alright." Finn turned around and caught Kurt's eyes wandering. The smaller boy was thinking of the moment Burt finally woke up and looked up at him, but immediately, he snapped back at Finn, "And you made me go to rehearse. Besides, why would I be happy? Two members will be joining the club, Finn, _two_."

"Atleast we'll be going to Nationals."

"Let's think small." Kurt patted Finn's shoulder as they were nearing the choir room. "What makes you think adding two members in the club will surely grant us a spot in Sectionals? Let alone, Regionals and Nationals?"

Finn sighed loudly before stopping. "It's because I trust Mr. Schue," he smiled at his soon-to-be-step-brother. "And everybody else should too." Without waiting for a reply from Kurt, he grabbed the door leading the choir room and opened it.

The moment Kurt entered he was swarmed by the glee club. Everyone welcomed him back and hugged him, all of them asking how Burt was. "He's fine, he's fine! Thankfully, he's awake now," Kurt smiled to all of them. "But there is another piece of good news Finn and I would like to tell all of you."

"Good, because we can't bear what's happening here," Mercedes rolled her eyes as she clung on Kurt's arm. Everybody was returning to what they were doing before. Rachel's hand joined Finn's and led him to a seat, followed by Kurt and Mercedes taking a seat behind them. "We'll be having new members joining today."

"Today?" Finn and Kurt replied at the same time but clearly with different expressions on their faces. Kurt replied with extreme shock as Finn replied with a big smile. With this kind of news, Burt and Carole's engagement easily escaped both boys' minds.

"I heard one of them is from the football team," Mike, who was sitting next to Mercedes, joined in on the conversation. Having a good guess who it was, Mike and Finn nodded at each other.

"You guys think its Sam, don't you?" Tina asked as he saw both boys nod at each other. "What makes you think that Sam has a great voice?"

"Seriously, he just looks like a pretty boy to me." Santana sat in front, with Brittany right beside her, spaced out at the moment. "But I wouldn't mind since this club needs some testosterone shots."

The boys made some disapproving faces towards Santana, who waved it off and just continued checking out her nails. Mercedes shook her head before speaking up again, "I heard both recruits just transferred this year."

"Means more welcome slushies from Azimio and Karofsky," Kurt automatically replied as Mercedes nodded.

"You don't know how much I prayed for getting the other new member from the wrestling team," Artie said, wheeling himself between Brittany and Finn. "It's nice to have at least someone more intimidating than those two."

"I hope God listened," Quinn remarked.

"Well I hope Mr. Schue recruited people that can sing," Rachel blurted out while fixing her hair. "I hate getting last minute solo duties if they back out."

A hushed "What is she talking about?" resounded from the group, a lot of them squinting towards Rachel's direction.

"Alright guys— Oh!" Mr. Schuester just walked in the choir room, a briefcase on his hand. "I didn't know you'll be here, Kurt. I guess Mr. Hummel's all right now?"

"Yes, he is," the boy smiled politely while the teacher fixed his things on the piano. "He actually just woke up this morning."

"Oh, well you should've just stayed there for awhile, you know, spend time with him," the teacher shrugged as Finn felt a pair of eyes was darting from behind him. "But anyway, that's good to hear! And it's also good you're here since I've been making a few adjustments. I believe Mercedes filled you in already?"

"The whole glee club did," Kurt smiled politely.

Mr. Schue smiled back, he dug into his briefcase as he spoke, "So… Which one do you guys like to hear first, the good news or the bad news?"

"Bad news?" Mercedes questioned, to which Mr. Schue responded with a nod.

Rachel shot her hand to the air but did not wait for Mr. Schue to call her out. "Let's not hear about the new members." She turned around and was greeted by nods of approval from the club.

"Alright," Mr. Schue said, his eyebrows rose at his students. "Principal Figgins and I had a phone conference with Mrs. Puckerman, regarding Puck's whereabouts."

"Is he lost or something?" Santana side-commented. The teacher only replied with a small smile at the Cheerio.

"No." Mr. Schue's eyes were shifting from every student in the room. "He's in juvie."

"What?" Artie's voice resounded, followed by anxious whispers by the girls. "So badass," he whispered under his breath.

"According to his mother, he unsuccessfully stole a police motorcycle."

"Unsuccesfully?" Quinn squinted.

"Yes," Mr. Schue nodded at his students. "He attempted to steal the motorcycle, but ended up stealing just the policeman's helmet."

"Classic," Santana smirked as she pictured in her mind Puck running around with a helmet on his head.

"When is he coming back?" Kurt asked, concern apparent in his voice. A few of the club members glanced at his direction. It was quite unusual for Kurt to be concerned at Puck, the boy who made his high school life, well, a living hell.

"Since when did you care, Pinocchio?" Santana barked at the boy.

"Pinocchio?" Kurt pointed to himself while turning to Mercedes, as if asking if Santana was really talking to him.

"He'll be back next week, but he'll be spending 4 weeks after school picking up trash along the highway."

"That is soooo ghetto," Brittany said, earning a look from Kurt as he wondered what thoughts made the girl snap out of her daze and what ones never made it to the surface.

"Mr. Schue." Rachel once again shot her hand, but this time, waited for the teacher to acknowledge her. "How is Noah's mom? I mean, she has to be heart broken or something knowing her son is in jail."

"I think she's doing well, she sounded fine on the phone."

"How is Natalie?" Kurt wondered. Surely Puck's little sister would have been awfully distress knowing her big brother is in juvie and would be doing community service right after.

A "Who?" was only Mr. Schue's reply while Santana, Finn and Quinn turned around at Kurt with all the same faces and replies, "You know Nat?"

"Was I not supposed to say that?" The three continued to glower at Kurt.

"Okay, everybody take a chill pill and tell us who this Natalie is," Artie said wearing the same confused face as Mr. Schue and the others.

Santana gave one last look at Kurt, then started, "Natalie is Puck's little sister."

"She's nice," Quinn said. "She was the only tolerable person in their house when I stayed there."

"But no one really asks Puck about his sister, so he kinda made it a secret," Finn continued.

"With that," Santana once again turned towards Kurt. "How do you know Nat?"

"Puck told me about her," Kurt answered truthfully.

"Okay, seriously, you and Puck talking scares me," Santana scoffed.

"But Kurt's right," Mr. Schue finally spoke up. "I don't know how Puck's little sister, Natalie, and Mrs. Puckerman are handling all this." Everybody remained quiet. "Puck's part of our glee family, so I want atleast one of you to check on them."

"I can go to their house after," Finn volunteered.

"What?" Kurt interjected. "We're supposed to go back to the hospital right after, remember my dad?"

"Well if gigantor here can't do it, I think the girlfriend should do it," Santana also volunteered. She looked at Brittany, but the other girl barely moved. Santana smiled as she took Brittany's pinky to link with hers. The blonde girl looked at their joined pinkies and reassured Santana by holding onto her pinky tight.

"I'm his best friend," Finn argued. "Bros over ho—"

"Alright!" Mr. Schue cut off Finn before finishing. "You two can talk right after rehearsals. Can we now move on to the good news?" Everybody responded with a groan. "The good news is—"

"Only one new member's going to join us today?" Mercedes hopefully replied.

"No," Mr. Schue laughed a little. "I've successfully found two new members for our glee club!" Finn, Mike, and Artie were the only ones who clapped and smiled broadly while the others grunted in disagreement. "C'mon guys, be a little more encouraging?"

"We'll try," Mercedes groaned.

Mr. Schue grinned as he rubbed his hands together. "Now, I want you to meet, our first new member. Come on in, recruit number one!"

A boy with a lean body, green eyes, and bleach blonde hair jogged into the choir room. "Hi, I'm Sam Evans," he said smiling to them. Sam was a shirt and pants guy, and wearing a football jacket was an indication that he was on the football team. Nobody made a sound, just silent smiles from the boys and disgruntled looks from the girls. Sam rocked back and forth on his heels as the awkward silence grew.

On the second row though, there was movement. "He's on team gay," Kurt whispered, leaning on Mercedes. "No straight boy dyes his hair to look like Linda Evangelista circa 1993."

"You're crazy," Mercedes whispered back. "Circa 2010."

Out of the corner of Kurt's eye, a hand was raised. He looked over and puzzled at what he saw, it was Brittany's other hand. All the other glee club members, including Mr. Schue were confused at the sight; nevertheless, the teacher called on her. Brittany took her time to lower her hand and fiddle with the hem of her skirt. "Are you… Uhmm, gay?"

"What?" Sam said out of confusion. Santana and the others meanwhile were laughing uncontrollably.

"Nice way to break the ice, B," Santana said in between giggles.

"What ice?" Brittany asked airily.

"But setting the jokes asides," Rachel blurted seriously, her laugh immediately faded. "This is outrageous, how do we know Ken here can sing?"

"My name's Sam."

Mr. Schue opened his mouth to defend, but Finn was quick to answer Rachel, "He can sing, I heard him sing Every Rose Has Its Thorn in the shower. Not that I watched him showered, because that would be creepy." Sam squinted at Finn who was looking embarrassed at what he just said.

"He actually sang Billionaire for us," Artie said.

"What? When?" Rachel asked.

"Well, for the boys only. We just kinda got him a pre-audition," the boy in the wheelchair shrugged.

"Settle down, settle down," Mr. Schue said as he saw the bewilderment expressions of the girls. "Sam, if you could seat right here, there you go. Now, are you ready for recruit number two?"

Another groan was heard from the crowd. "Well, a little background on him might warm you up guys."

"Is he from the wrestling team?"

"What? No." The teacher pulled a few paper from his briefcase and started, "He actually just transferred here last week, so he's really new. He came from an all-boys boarding school, just like Sam. Any chance you know him, Sam?"

"Maybe," Sam replied.

"Well, are you from…" Mr. Schue trailed the paper down. "Dalton Academy?"

"Oh then, I don't know him," the blonde boy shrugged.

"Well then, let's all welcome, our second new member, Blaine!"

A curly brown haired boy stepped inside the room, his hands behind his back. His hazel brown eyes glistened as he scanned the room of glee club members who just glared back at him. "Hi!" He animatedly wave at the club. He was very different from the first new member. Yet, another awkward silence filled the air. But unlike Sam, Blaine stood in front with confidence.

"I don't know about this kid," Mercedes leaned at Kurt. Blaine, as Kurt thought, has a sense of style. He was wearing a plain white shirt topped with a black cardigan, blue denim gingham trousers, and finished off with a shiny black leather shoes. _Nobody that straight could have cared about fashion_, Kurt thought.

"Me neither," Kurt squinted. "I'm getting mixed signals." The more he scrutinized Blaine, the more he was confused. Blaine's hair was messy compared to Sam's. Sam was obviously waxed and tussled, while Blaine's long curly hair was only a sign that he was too lazy to comb or what. And by the looks of his body, he knew Blaine could have played football or some kind heavy sport. As though expected, Kurt turned around at Brittany, who shot her hand once again in the air.

A fit of giggles came from the students as Mr. Schue rubbed his forehead. "Brittany, you can ask your question after rehearsals."

"Mr. Schue." Blaine spoke up, he was giggling with the other members of the glee club. "If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to answer Brittany's question right now." A few students raised their eyebrows while the others were still giggling. Blaine turned to face the glee club. "Yes, I am gay."

All the giggles faded and were replaced with shock faces, leaving their mouths open. No one spoke nor moved. Blaine meanwhile smiled at their reaction and Mr. Schue was actually giggling to himself. "So much for testosterone shots," Santana quipped as she snapped out of the shock.

Mr. Schue cleared his throat, "All right, let's get started."

* * *

Rehearsals ended during late afternoon and Mr. Schue approached the two students, Finn and Santana, who were arguing about who got to see Puck's family first while the others fixed their stuff to leave. Sam was actually taking an interest in Quinn, Artie and Rachel meanwhile were deep in their conversation about the new kids while Brittany was starting to space out once again. Mike and Tina were talking about Asian couples therapy, "Does it matter if we go to a not-Asian couples therapy?" Tina asked, confused.

"To my mom, it does," Mike replied. Tina, obviously exasperated at Mike's answer, let out a groan before leaving him behind.

Kurt, together with Mercedes, was waiting for Finn. "Do you think it's a good idea?"

"I think it's a passport to hell," Mercedes raised her eyebrow. "Two gay kids hitting it off would send Azimio and Karofsky's radar go crazy. But you know what, whatever floats your boat, I'm with you."

The boy sighed as a reply. He just explained to Mercedes how he thought having Blaine, another out-of-the-closet kid, was a godsend in McKinley, and in Lima. _At least I can have a legit crush on somebody_. He shrugged as an image of the boy was in his mind. He debated with his best friend if he should go and talk with Blaine, you know, just ask him how he was coping with school.

"Hey!" Kurt felt a tap on his shoulder. "Kurt, right?" Blaine smiled at the pale boy who looked quite dumbfounded at him. "And you're taking Sir Francis' French class?" All Blaine got was a small nod from the boy and a big smile from Mercedes. "Here's your homework," the boy said as he handed Kurt a piece of paper. "It's due on Mardi. That's French for Tuesday." Blaine casually said as Kurt grabbed the paper.

"Oui, je sais (_Yes, I know_)," Kurt smiled as he glanced at the homework assignment.

"Je vois que vous parlez couramment (_I see you speak fluently_)?"

Kurt nodded. "J'ai juste pris cette classe pour des fins de divertissement (_I just took this class for entertainment purposes_)." He let out a nervous laugh, since having Blaine's hazel brown eyes make direct eye contact with him made Kurt anxious. None of the boys he knew, except his dad, would look at him like that, like they were genuinely listening. _My dad… And Puck._ Immediately, Kurt waved off Puck in his mind.

"Me too!" Blaine exclaimed, he was also laughing nervously. "Well, vous voyez (_see you_)?"

"Oui (_Yes_)," Kurt smiled. After smiling back, Blaine turned around to leave. As he turned the corner, Kurt faced Mercedes, wearing a dreamy smile.

"What was that?"

"Oh, he's also in my French class." Kurt answered Mercedes.

"What's the matter with you, Pinocchio?" Santana once again snapped, "'cause you have this face on where it looks like any minute you're going to float." She walked up to them with Finn, Rachel, Artie, and Brittany following behind her.

"Looks like Santana's gonna ride with us, we're both going to see how Nat's doing. Sorry Kurt." Finn shrugged as Kurt glared at him. "Does this mean Brittany's riding with us too?"

"I'm not leaving her with Wheels." Artie scrunched up his face in annoyance at Santana's answer. "Besides, Brittany's house is just a few blocks away from Puckerman's. It's on our way."

"See you later then, Kurt," Mercedes bade as she circled behind Artie to push his chair out toward the parking lot.

"I'll call you later?" Rachel asked as she reached up for a kiss from Finn, to which Santana made a convincing puking sound. After receiving her kiss, Rachel followed after and joined Mercedes and Artie outside the room.

"Who call shotgun?" Finn asked Kurt, Santana, and Brittany, his three passengers for the afternoon.

"Me," Kurt scoffed, "shotgun. I'm not getting stuck in the backseat with a Cheerio. We all know that's not exactly my cup of tea."

"Whatever," Santana replied, leading the way out to the parking lot. "You just don't know what you're missing."


	8. Chapter 8

**A;N:  
**(1) **Big thanks to PteraWaters, as always. ;)  
And to the readers who reviewed, read, and tracked my story. ;)  
**(2) **Very very short chapter, sorreh! I wasn't able to concentrate much on  
this one because I had loads of tests for school. -_- So yeah, still no Puck! D: Lol!  
**

* * *

**CHAPTER 8**

**

* * *

**

The sun was starting to set when a car arrived in front of the Puckerman's house. The students inside planned that only Finn and Santana would go check the Puckermans while Brittany and Kurt stay inside the car. "Could you hurry up?" Santana snapped at Finn, who was struggling to unbuckle his seatbelt.

"It… won't…" Finn continued to struggle. "Oh, there you go." Finally, he stepped out of the driver's door, but before slamming it shut, he bent down to say something. "No playing around."

Kurt looked at him as if he spoke a different language, while Brittany looked at him expressionless. "What?" The boy sitting on the passenger seat asked.

"You know, making out." Kurt's eyes widened at what Finn just said. "Don't act innocent, I know what you and Britt done when you two were dating."

"That won't ever happen again," Kurt said with finality on his voice.

"It won't?" Brittany, obviously disappointed, asked.

"Yes, Brittany, it won't happen again, at least not with me." Kurt glared at the girl behind her.

"Oh, okay," Brittany smiled at herself. "But I do miss your soft baby hands."

Finn shook his head, chuckling as he slammed the door shut, leaving Kurt to give Brittany weird looks. They watched quietly as Finn and Santana knocked and entered the house. The silence stayed for a good long time before Brittany started speaking again. "Kurt, can I ask you something?"

"What is it, Britt?" He said calmly. He was still looking outside his window, taking in the house where the Puckermans lived. The house's color was fading, the bush was growing misshapen and the grass, though it was alive with color, it was also growing too long. A few crunchy brown leaves were scattered across the front yard, probably from the neighbor's big oak tree. Kurt couldn't help it but think Puck was the one taking care of everything in their house, maybe that's why their front yard looks like Edward Scissorhands forgot to sharpen his blades before doing the landscaping.

"How do you know if somebody likes you?"

This made Kurt snap out of his thoughts and look at the girl behind him. "Why are you asking me?"

"Why not you?"

"Because nobody really interacts with me the way people interact with you," Kurt said, looking intently at Brittany's blue eyes. He watched as the girl nodded as a reply and went back looking outside the car, expressionless as always. Kurt sighed, "Somebody likes you if that somebody makes an effort spending time with you, at least that's my definition."

"Like how Finn always waits for Rachel after class?"

"Yup!" The boy returned to sitting properly, nodding his head.

"Or how Artie always spends his time watching Mike and Tina by his locker?"

"Something like that," Kurt said.

"And how Puck stayed in the hospital with you?"

Kurt snapped his head towards Brittany with eyes bulging out, "What?" He nearly shrieked.

Brittany turned her look at Kurt, "You said a person likes somebody if that person makes an effort spending time with that somebody, right?" The boy answered with a nod. "Puck made an effort staying in the hospital with you."

"Well, I…" Kurt started, but he can't think of something to reply at Brittany.

"Oh look! It's Nat!" Brittany pressed her nose at the window at the sight of the girl, beside her was Finn and Santana.

Kurt glanced at the trio outside, but went back to Brittany, "Brittany, me and Puck are different. Very _very_ different."

"Sounds the same to me," Brittany shrugged as she grabbed her bag and Santana's and started getting out of the car. "Oh, you want to meet Nat?"

The boy sighed defeated. He opened his car door just after Brittany and went to the group. He examined Natalie, who was standing in the middle of Finn and Santana joking around. Considering she was only 10 years old, she was tall and acted very mature for her age. He wondered whether Mrs. Puckerman was in the house or not.

"Hey B!" The girl exclaimed as she saw the blonde Cheerio approaching them.

"Hey! Have you gotten taller?"

"That's what I said!" Finn nudged the girl beside him as she giggled. "Oh, Nat, I want you to meet, Kurt Hummel, Kurt, this is Natalie Puckerman."

Kurt only replied with a wave and smile as the girl leaned over at Santana, "Is this the one you're talking about?" The boy raised an eyebrow at Natalie and Santana as the brunette's hand flew immediately at Natalie's mouth.

"What is she talking about?" Kurt muttered, still watching Santana struggle over Natalie.

"Nothing," Santana said. "We better go, it's getting dark. Stay good, stay safe, okay?" She looked down at the girl whose mouth was still covered by her hand. She kissed her forehead and went towards Brittany's house where, Brittany walked up to her and even though it was dark, both boys and Natalie could still see their linked pinkies.

"Alright, go on, get inside now," Finn playfully shoved Natalie towards the door. "Lock the doors and windows. Eat your dinner, okay?"

"Yes, father Finn!" She joked as she started walking towards the door. "Nice to meet you, Kurt!" She waved back at the pale boy before closing the doors.

* * *

Finn drove to the hospital as he told Kurt what happened inside the house. Apparently, Mrs. Puckerman was at work during that time and Natalie just came from school. "She's a gymnast and an aspiring Cheerio, she's pretty much opposite of Puck."

"I can see that," Kurt said calmly, remembering the night Puck stayed at the hospital with him and then suddenly butting in was Brittany's voice, _"You said a person likes somebody if that person makes an effort spending time with that somebody…"_ He shook his head as if it would make Brittany's voice go away.

"Kurt, can I ask something?" Finn stopped at an intersection, waiting for a red light turn green.

"Yeah, sure," he absent-mindedly said, Brittany's voice resounding still in his head.

"I'm just being honest and all here, but what's going on with you and Puck?"

"What?" Kurt turned at Finn who was now turning at a corner. "We're just talking. What's wrong with talking?"

"Nothing," Finn replied. "It's just that it's weird."

"It was at first. But now, I think I'm used to it. Is this conversation going anywhere?" Kurt sighed loudly as he honestly thought that the conversation was useless.

"Okay, fine. I'm just gonna tell you what I really think." Finn's eyes were focused on the road, but his voice was intense. "Puck's one of those people who made your life suck, you know, the slushie facial and dumpster tossing—"

"You did that to me too."

"The point is Puck might be up to something, maybe worse than slushie facials." Silence dawned inside the car after Finn spoke; it was as if Kurt fell asleep or something. Glancing at his side, he saw that Kurt was looking at him keenly. "Uhmm, is there something on my face?"

"I can't believe how minutely you trust your best friend," was Kurt's only reply after a few minutes of observing his soon-to-be-step-brother.

"What?" Finn nervously laughed. He felt the tables turning on him.

"Finn, Puck learns from his mistakes," he gently touched Finn's arm, stopping the kid from glancing tensely at him. "I mean, yeah, he can be reckless sometimes, but you can't expect him to do the same mistakes over again, right?"

"Well, uhmm, not really," he replied as he gripped the steering wheel firmer.

Kurt shuffled on his seat, obviously not satisfied at Finn's answer. "Puck got Quinn pregnant, and we all know that was hell of a ride last year. But do you really think that he would get Quinn, or any other girls out there, pregnant after that happened?"

It took awhile for Finn to grip Kurt's message, he shook his head and said, "No."

"Now, do you really think that he can still muster up the strength to toss me in a dumpster, slushie facial Rachel, or trap Artie in a port-a-potty after all that?"

"I don't think so, he likes being in glee club."

"Exactly," the boy patted Finn's arms.

"How can you possibly know Puck more than I do?" Finn joked as Kurt shrugged as an answer. "I'm just looking out for you, that's all."

"I know, and thank you," Kurt smiled; he looked outside his window again and watched the cars zoom pass by.

"So…" Finn continued. "What did you think of Blaine?"

"He's nice," he replied.

"And?" Kurt turned at Finn, who was wearing a smug on his face. "Is that all you can say, he's nice?"

"What do you want me to say?"

"C'mon Kurt, you can't be that too unaware of your surroundings." Finn glanced at Kurt, who replied with a raised eyebrow at Finn. "He was checking you out during rehearsals!"

Kurt's eyes bulged out of his skull before exclaiming a "No, he was not!" at Finn.

Finn laughed at the boy's reaction while squeezing a "Yes, he was!" between his chuckles. "Kurt, trust me, Mike, Artie, and Sam. He _was_ checking you out." He winked at Kurt, whose cheeks were red and hot.

"Did he ask you out?" Finn continued to smile wide.

"No," Kurt replied with spite. "He just gave me the French homework."

"Ah French, the language of love," Finn sighed.

"Oh shut up," Kurt replied, rolling his eyes.

* * *

**A/N: Reviews are like air to meeeeee! :D**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:  
**(1) **Big thanks to PteraWaters, as always! :)  
and to the readers who reviewed, read, and tracked my story! :)  
**(2) **So sorry for the late update, I've been handling some personal problems  
and some academic stuff. But all is well, hopefully! :D Enjoy!**

**

* * *

**

**CHAPTER 9  


* * *

**

One thing that was nice about being in a wheelchair was that Artie couldn't be shoved nor hit by the football players. Sure, Artie got slushied once in a while, but at least he would still have his shoulder blades intact at the end of the day. Artie whistled through the busy hallways, stopped in front of his locker, opened it, and busied himself with his stuff.

Before long though, Artie felt someone pull him out into the hallway and start pushing him down it. He looked up, and shook his head with a smile, "So how was juvie?"

"Nicer than I thought," Puck said. "But I still got community service."

"Picking up trash along the highway, I see?" Artie grinned at Puck.

"Wipe that grin off of your face 'cause I'm not doing that ghetto stuff."

"Oh," the boy in wheelchair was disappointed by Puck's news. "Then what are you doing for community service?"

"My parole officer agreed for me to help the disabled in this school," Puck shrugged as he turned a corner.

"Hold up, I'm the only disabled person in the school."

"Exactly, Artie Claus," Puck replied.

"But I don't need help!" Artie wheeled himself out of Puck's hands and maneuvered himself to face the boy. "I'm sorry Puck, but I'm fine without help. I'm fine with myself."

"Really? 'Cause the last time I checked Tina ditched you for Mike's abs." Artie frowned at Puck, whose arms were crossed. "I read from Jewfro's page that they're going strong, they were even caught hitting first base in one of these classrooms."

It was unfair for Puck to draw that card, especially since it still stung. He squinted towards the boy, and rested his hands on his lap. He let Puck circle him around and push him down the hallway. On second thought though, maybe Puck could help with the whole situation. "What do you think I should do?"

Puck grinned at him, "You came at the right guy," he smiled further. "The first thing you should do is realize that you're on the same level as Mike now. Both of you are in the football team _and_ glee club—"

"But he can dance."

"He can't sing like you, bro." Artie snapped his head at the unexpected comment. "Anyway, now that you're on the same level as Mike, you should know by now that you're on your way to the top of the pyramid. So the question is, how do you get a spot to the top?"

"How?"

Puck sighed at the moment and spun Artie in a certain direction, where a lot of Cheerios were chatting. "Cheerios! Seriously dude, you're totally lost without me."

"What?" Artie stared at the group of laughing girls whose ponytails were tight and high. "I can't date a Cheerio!"

"Why not?"

"Puck, they're Cheerios! They barely even look at me!"

"That was the old Artie!" Puck argued. "You're new now. You're a football guy who can sing and go shopping with girls without even getting tired. Honestly, chicks would _die_ for a dude like that!"

"You think so?"

"I know so," Puck patted Artie's shoulders as they watched the Cheerios from afar. "You know what, since you're my community service, I'll help you get your Cheerio. So, who will be the lucky lady?"

Artie scanned the group of girls. He didn't know many of them— heck, he only knew three of them, Quinn, Santana, and Brittany. There wasn't much of a choice, Quinn and Sam was beginning to be an item, and Santana treated him like crap... "Brittany."

"Brittany's not there, dude. Just pick one out of the group."

"She's right there," Artie said, he pointed at the side. Indeed, Brittany was there with Santana, talking by the lockers.

Puck rubbed his forehead, "Sorry man, but you gotta choose someone else—"

"She's not dating any dude, right?"

"Well, not exactly—"

"Then it's her or nothing Puck." Artie wheeled himself again towards the hallways, leaving the other boy behind. He felt his hands turned sweaty; maybe he pushed Puck too far for help. But then, he felt a push behind him. A smile slowly formed on Artie's face.

"I'll see what I can do, man," Puck said, his voice was tight, but not like before, excited and confident. In all honesty, Puck didn't have a clue how the hell he was gonna tell Santana about this. He continued pushing the wheelchair quietly, thinking of a scheme or something. He glanced at another hallway and noticed something. "Wait," he abruptly stopped the wheelchair, making Artie hold his weight down so as not to be flung forward, "who's that?"

Artie peered down at the hallway. "New transfer last week and new member of the glee club, his name's Blaine," the other boy said casually. They watched as Blaine was texting by his locker, his curly hair falling on his face.

Noticing his clothes, Puck arched his eyebrow. "Is he, uhmm…"

"Yup, he's gay. He came out the minute he introduced himself to us," Artie smiled as he remembered the moment. "He's a cool kid, really out there, just like Kurt."

Kurt's name made Puck snap his head toward Artie. He squinted at the boy and was about to ask something until Artie exclaimed an, "Oh boy." Puck looked again at Blaine's direction and what he saw were two towering figures approaching the boy. With a blink of an eye, Blaine's shoulder contacted the lockers with a deafening bang. Puck and Artie heard Karofsky and Azimio's intimidating lines as the bullies looked down at Blaine.

Puck started wheeling Artie towards them, making the boy on the wheelchair flail around, "What the hell are you doing?" But this didn't stop Puck from butting in between Karofsky and Azimio's laughs.

"Back the hell up," Puck said, clenching his fist tightly while he stared at the two.

The two bullies just laughed at Puck, with Karofsky holding on to his stomach as Azimio pulled someone out of the passing crowd behind them. "Tell us Jacob, what can't Puck do when he's all fresh out of the juvie?"

"He— He can't be violent in any way as long as he's under probation," the blogger blurted. "When something like that happens, one call to his patrol officer, and he gets another week in juvie."

Of course this was not new to Puck; every detail of his detainment was explained to him before he got out. But he hated people knowing that he was so defenseless now. He stopped himself from lunging at Azimio while the bully casually flicked Jacob back to the crowd.

"Looks like the lady club's guardian can't touch us at all for the next four weeks." The two bullies towered over Puck, with Artie hiding behind him. As they stepped intimidatingly toward the aggravated kid, a tap on Karofsky's shoulder interrupted them. They spun around and found, surprisingly, Santana smirking at them with Kurt just behind her.

"The guardian may be out for four weeks, but it's not stopping us from getting back at you," Kurt said, his face expressionless but his voice as stern as possible.

"Are you trying to scare us?" Karofsky stepped closer toward the two, his eyes focused on the kid behind Santana.

"Oh please, we're not trying," Santana held up her hands to stop Karofsky from getting near them. "We _are_ scaring you. I know you two. You are these big intimidating players, but when you're outnumbered you turn into tiny, little mice." She nudged her head to the side, making both boys look around them. They were circled by Santana, Kurt, Puck, and now Blaine.

Karofsky and Azimio took a step back, but then hit Artie's wheelchair. "No backing down now," Artie mumbled shakily.

"I'll give you two choices," Santana continued as the two boys in front of them realized their situation. "Be rammed at the lockers by Artie with me pushing him, or beat it," she smiled sweetly at the two.

Azimio sighed as Karofsky pursed his lips. Both boys looked at each other, and without saying a word, agreed upon a decision. "We better go," Azimio said defeated. Santana gave way as the boys exit without a word.

"I'll make sure we have cheese once you get back, little mice!" She bade as they watched their tormentors turned a corner. Santana turned around and opened her arms to Puck for a hug, "Welcome back!"

Puck stepped forward and hugged her, "How did you know they're going to be scared by doing that?"

"Remember the Lady Gaga incident?" Santana replied.

"That was freaking awesome!" Blaine cheered with Artie, giving him a high five.

"You okay?" Kurt asked as he saw Blaine rubbed his shoulder after. "The nurse doesn't have ice packs, so better go to the cafeteria and get a pack of frozen peas."

"Thanks!" Blaine continued to smile at the other boy as Kurt felt his face turn scarlet. Blaine smiled even more, he could watch Kurt blush all day, but then, Puck clearing his throat made him strip his eyes away to the boy.

"Noah Puckerman, you can call me Puck," he extended his hand.

"Blaine," the boy shook his hand with a smile. "Thanks for doing that."

"It's no biggie, I'll do that for anyone in glee club," he smiled back.

* * *

Literature class was Puck's last subject for the day. One of the major perks was Mrs. Goldman was too old to care about her students, so she let them wander and chat inside the classroom until the bell rang. Puck sat back at the classroom, cramming over some notes for his History paper when suddenly Santana sat beside him followed by Brittany. "Didn't know you're taking History this semester, Puck," Santana said, glancing at Puck's work.

"AP History," Puck mumbled.

"What?"

"Taking up AP History," Puck repeated. "Didn't tell anyone… Well, I told Kurt but—"

"You told Kurt _before_ me?" Santana retorted. "Geez, you're not really good at being a best friend, are you?"

"What do you want? I'm cramming my butt off here. I need this World War 2 paper to be submitted by 4," the boy grudgingly stopped writing and faced the brunette Cheerio.

"I'm here ask how you are, because being the awesome best friend that I am, I actually care about you," Santana smiled, Puck meanwhile rolled his eyes at her and returned to his homework. "By the way, what's your community service?" She checked out her nails as she spoke.

Puck stopped writing the moment Santana asked. "Right, about that," he spun around once again and faced her. "I need Brittany to date Artie."

Santana looked at Puck with no expression on her face. She waited for a laugh or smile to break out on Puck's face, but he was expressionless as she. Realizing that Puck was serious, she opened her mouth with disbelief, "Are you fucking serious?"

"Do I look like I'm joking?" Puck pointed at his face. "My parole officer agreed to me helping the disabled in school as my community service. And so, I'm helping Artie—"

"Get a date with B?"

"I'm helping him move on from Tina!"

"By getting a date with B?"

"Oh c'mon! By now you should trust Brittany with any guy, especially with Artie," Puck retorted as Santana continued to glare at him. "Please? For me?"

"I hate you," Santana sat back in her seat. She looked at Brittany right beside her, who was writing something on the desk, and finally looked back at Puck. "Fine, she can go out with Artie."

"Yes!" Puck air pumped on his seat. "You know what, you may _be_ an awesome best friend." He smiled at her and then returned to his paper.

"I'm not done yet," she tapped his shoulders to grab his attention. "B can go out with Artie, in three conditions. One, Artie should ask her, and if she refuses, then this community service shit is done. Shut up Puckerman and let me finish," she retorted as she saw Puck was about to butt in. "Two, if B does agree, it's gotta be a double date between them and us."

"And what's the third one?"

"Third, I demand a clean slate from you."

"A what?"

"A clean slate," Santana repeated herself. "Don't hide it away from me, I know you got lots of stuff to tell me about, and AP History is one of them."

Puck shrugged and smiled. It was amazing to watch Santana figure it all without telling a thing to her. "AP Math is also one of those things."

"Seriously?" Santana laughed. "I didn't know you're such a geek!" She teased.

"Shut up," Puck rolled his eyes once more at Santana before turning back to his paper. It supposedly would have been done if it wasn't for Santana.

"There's still a tiny _tiny_ speck of dust on your slate," Santana grinned behind Puck.

"Mmm?" Puck answered. "And what's that?"

Santana shook her head, and finally sighed with a smile. "Your eyes were totally glued on Pinocchio the moment you saw him this morning," Santana said. "Don't look at me like that, all surprised and stuff. I know you know this!"

"There's also something in your eyes when you look at him," Brittany joined in the conversation casually. Her face was inches away from the table, her hands continuing to draw something on it while she spoke again, "It's like, glimmering. The same way Santana looks at me, and the way I look at her." She smiled to herself.

Santana smiled also at her, and then at Puck, whose face was still bewildered as before. "Britt's good at observing," Santana shrugged.

"I can see that," the boy said. He shifted in his seat and took a deep breath. "I seriously don't know."

"What?" Santana asked. All eyes were now on him, well, Brittany and Santana's eyes were on him.

"I don't know," Puck shrugged. His hands shook a little and beads of sweat formed on his forehead. He had thought about this scenario, telling to Santana or at least someone about his "situation". "I find myself looking at him with no reason. I just, maybe, I just like to watch him?"

"Stalker much?"

Puck glared at the retorted comment but continued, "I just find him interesting, that's all. You know, the way he laughs, smiles-"

"Or the way he pushes his hair back?" Santana continued for Puck as the boy nodded his head along. "The way he sits, and stuff? Look, I hate pulling the big elephant question out of the bag, but are you sure you're not interested _in _him?" Brittany beside her giggled as the boy did not looked pleased at her question.

"No, I'm not interested in him. He's just interesting to watch," he shrugged, finality was in his voice. He went back to his homework after.

Santana nodded slowly, "Riiiight. Yeah, I got it," sarcastic in her tone. "So you wouldn't mind if Blaine asked Kurt out after school?"

Puck snapped his face towards, "He's asking him out?"

"Yep. Blaine asked me about Kurt awhile ago, if he's seeing someone or if someone's interested in him and stuff." Just on cue, the bell rang signaling for the end of the day. Brittany stood up and went to their bags as Santana stood up too, Puck was still looking at her as if she stuck a knife in his chest. "See you in glee rehearsals!" Then she bent down to whisper to him, "And you better finish that World War 2 paper before hand, if you know what I mean."

* * *

**A/N: Yeeey, Puck's back! ;D**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:**  
(1)** Thank you to PteraWaters! :D I am forever grateful for all the things you have done for me. :)**  
(2) **Thank you to my readers and followers! :) I will delete my HIATUS chapter after a few hours so you guys**  
**wouldn't be confused with the numbering and all. XD**

* * *

**CHAPTER 10**

* * *

Breadstix was full that night; a line was starting to form by the door. People were chattering inside as foods were passing by their heads. In one of those booths, Puck, Santana, Brittany and Artie were seated. "I flex my left pec, then I flex my right pec, and I say to the guy, 'Leggo my Eggo.' And you know what he does?" He leaned towards the table in excitement. "He lets go, of my Eggo!"

Artie nodded his head, "That's right!"

"You should be our nation's president," the brunette Cheerio said.

"Maybe," Puck replied with a smile. But Santana's attention was not with him anymore, she watched as Brittany whispered something on Artie's ear.

"Sorry, I was really distracted by the waitress. She's totally into me." Santana heard from Artie, she looked at Puck and saw him nod towards Artie as he bit his lip. Santana glared at Puck, and stepped on Puck's foot.

"Ah!" Puck exclaimed quietly. "What was that for?"

"This," Santana whispered to him.

Puck pursed his lips together. He grabbed a long breadstick from the glass as he spoke, "You can't blame me for something Brittany agreed to do," he shrugged as he broke little pieces of the stick and stuck it in his mouth. "Besides, we all know Brittany would stop dating guys if you just admit-"

"What's there to admit?" The brunette looked at him. Puck tilted his head and mouthed the words "come on". She waved her hand trying to dismiss the topic, "I don't like labels!"

"It's not a label; it's who you are—"

"Oh please, don't be a hypocrite." She scrunched her forehead as she took her drink for a sip. Her eyes wandered at the forming line outside.

"How am I being a hypocrite?" Puck asked with his mouth full. He lowered his voice, "Look Santana, maybe it's time you stop thinking about what other people think about you."

She smiled angelic at him, "Okay, first Puckerman, you seem to forget that I'm a Cheerio. Being a Cheerio is all about image. Telling me to stop thinking about what other people think about me, is like telling me to quit the Cheerio-"

"And what's wrong with quitting?"

"I'll lose my scholarship," she smiled once more. "And second, you're being a hypocrite because you're the one who's 'interested' in a boy."

"Shh!" Puck almost jumped at Santana to cover her mouth. "I knew telling you that would end in something like this. Besides, I'm not _that_ interested," he defended.

"Really? So you're not jealous at all that Blaine asked Kurt out?"

"Not at all," Puck said bluntly.

"Want to prove that?" Santana smiled daringly as she slid off the booth.

"Where are you go— Get back here!" Puck pleaded as he saw Santana walked towards the door leading to the line outside.

"What is she doing?" Artie asked, his eyebrows lifted out of confusion.

"She's not angry, is she?" Brittany said.

Puck shrugged at the questions as he saw Santana went outside, and immediately wandered at the line outside. There was a moment of silence in the table, waiting for the girl to emerge from the crowd. Not long, the bell above the door rang as she came inside. She smiled at the table, held the door a bit, and waited for two boys to enter behind her. Puck shook his head a little to show Santana his disapproval, as both Artie and Brittany smiled and waved back to Blaine and Kurt. Santana moved towards their table followed by the two boys. She sat back beside Puck, and the curly haired boy sat beside her. Kurt took a spot beside Brittany.

"It's so nice of you to invite us, Santana," Blaine started. "We stood outside like almost an hour!"

"It's good I spotted you," she smiled charmingly towards the boy.

Puck smiled nervously around the table before leaning towards Santana, "I can't believe you-"

"Sooo, first date?" Santana continued as if she was now deaf from her left ear. Kurt started to grow crimson as Blaine smiled. "Oh c'mon, don't be shy!" She continued to tease.

"Kurt actually just took me to the mall with Mercedes," Blaine answered, a smile was on his face. "Kurt dropped off Mercedes, but I got hungry during the drive home. So here we are, still hungry."

"I'm so sorry, didn't know this place was jammed pack during weekends," Kurt apologized.

"It's okay! Atleast we finally got a seat," Blaine smiled once again around the table.

"Here's your order," the waitress stood beside the table as she handed down plates of pasta and salad. She took a minute or two to take the new arrivals' orders and took off once more.

"So, what is this? Just a gathering?" Kurt asked over the table.

"It's actually a double date," Artie answered after he forked some salad into his mouth.

"Double date, wow," the boy replied with a tone of surprise. "I'm assuming Brittany and Artie are together in this date?"

"You know it," Artie exclaimed, as Santana looked at Kurt with those dagger eyes.

"It's actually their first date," Santana commented.

"So you and Puck together, huh?" Blaine teased.

Brittany caught Santana's eyes as she answered a yes at Blaine's question. They held their stare for a second longer, before Brittany finally broke it. Santana continued to watch her as she played around with her meatball. Kurt broke the silence by asking, "Wait, but I thought you're going out with someone else?"

Santana snapped her head towards Kurt, "Who said so?" She squinted at the boy.

Kurt's eyes darted at Puck, then back at Santana, "Oh you know, something going around the school."

"Puckerman," Santana started. "What did you tell him?"

"Wha- Nothing! Why does it always have to be me?"

"Oh please, I saw Pinocchio's eyes looking at you before answering!" Her words hinted a little teasing as a slight smirk formed on the girl's lips.

"Pinocchio?" Blaine asked quietly at Kurt, who hushed him up.

Puck pursed his lips, "Stop it, Santana. You don't want to do _that _now." He knew it. Telling her that he was somewhat interested in Kurt made perfect blackmail material.

"In front of them? Why not," Santana smirked some more.

"That was before I got in juvie, okay?" Puck excused. "Can we please not do this here?"

"Fine. But don't think you got away with this." Santana went back to her food. An awkward silence filled the table once again before Blaine cleared his throat.

"So, uhmm, juvie huh?" He looked at Puck. "If you don't mind me asking, why?"

"Why what?" Puck replied.

"Why did you go to juvie?"

"Oh, well, I stole policeman's helmet."

"A helmet?" Blaine began to laugh. "Really? Just a helmet?"

"The cop was really pissed off, you know," Puck began to brag.

"And why did you do that?" Blaine said between his laugh. "Look, I'm sorry Puck, but that only makes you look like some kind of a lunatic or something."

Everybody was now looking at Blaine, to Puck, then back to Blaine. It was the first time anyone called Puck a lunatic, and they were all eager to see his reaction. Surprisingly, Puck shrugged it away. "I let people think what they like to think while I do my business. And my business was to make myself a more badass than my girl here," Puck leaned towards Santana. "Admit it, I'm more badass than you now," he winked.

"Oh shut up," she scoffed.

Puck smiled bigger at Santana, and towards the table. He saw Brittany and Artie smiled at his answer, Kurt was also smiling at him. "Wow, that's really good to hear," Blaine answered back.

"Yeah, well, that's what I've been learning in this hell hole," Puck said. "Because if you care more about what others think, you'll lose yourself."

"Oh my God, what are you, a priest?" Santana said in between her bites.

"No, I'm Jewish." Puck pointed at himself while the others giggled a little.

"But I do agree with Puck," Kurt joined the conversation. "I joined the football team just to let my dad think I'm straight. What do I get?"

"Uhmm, our first and only win last year?" Puck bragged.

"Well, that," Kurt giggled. "But all I got was still the bully treatment, only harsher." His voice faded, he was looking down at the table pursing his lips.

Silence once again fell on the table; nobody knows what to say to Kurt. Blaine cleared his throat, "I'm sorry, Kurt." He said quietly.

* * *

The line outside Breadstix was gone now and the cars parked outside were getting fewer and fewer. Puck leaned on his car as he waited outside for the rest. He pondered on the thought of why girls always went to the rest rooms in pairs or groups. But then again, Kurt's story from awhile ago kept creeping inside his head.

"Let me guess." Puck whirled around to see who it was; he smiled a little at the pale boy. "You're wondering why girls always go to the bathroom in groups?"

"Not exactly," he said.

Kurt smiled back, "Well, I'm wondering why Blaine and Artie needed to go the bathroom together." Kurt laughed after with Puck. After a short while though, their laughter faded and silence begin to envelope them once again.

Puck looked at Kurt, who was now watching the people inside Breadstix eating. "Kurt, I'm sorry,"

"About what?" Kurt looked at Puck.

"You know," Puck shrugged, but Kurt gave him a questioned look. "The way I treated you last year. The slushies, the dumpster toss—"

"Puck—" Kurt tried to stop him.

"No, I'm serious Kurt, I am really sorry about all that stuff," Puck continued. "All those actions are not me. I'm really sorry."

Kurt smiled at him, who looked back sincerely. "Puck, it's okay. Besides, you already apologized, remember?"

"I do, but I have this feeling—"

"What feeling?" Puck's insides were now turning at Kurt's question. He looked up and saw that the boy was staring at him intently.

"That it was not enough," the boy blurted out. "I have this feeling that a sorry was not enough."

Kurt smiled at Puck. "A sorry is enough for the slushies and dumpster tosses." He looked away, his eyes stayed at the entrance of Breadstix. "But when you shove me against the lockers, and say stuff about me—"

"Like Karofsky?"

"Yes, like him. That's when a sorry is not enough." Kurt turned back at Puck. "But all the things you've done, a sorry was all I've been waiting for." He smiled.

Puck smiled back at the boy as the crickets filled the air. Both of them turned towards Breadstix, and waited for their friends to show up.

"Blaine's nice," Puck said once more. He looked at Kurt and saw him nod. "You like him?" Kurt snapped his head towards Puck with a bewilderment look. "Sorry to pry," Puck immediately said.

Kurt giggled, "No, it's alright. Your questions just came out unexpected for me." He continued to giggle. "Do I like him? Hmm." Kurt trailed. Just on cue, Blaine and Santana came out Breadstix, followed by Artie and Brittany. Both of them watched their friends as they walked across the parking lot, approaching them. Finally, Kurt spoke up, "I honestly don't know yet. I don't want to like him just because he's the first out-of-the-closet guy I've known. I want to like him because of him, you know?"

"Yeah, I get it."

"You guys ready?" Santana asked as she circled around Puck's car.

"Yeah," Puck answered. He opened the car, as Kurt and Blaine started walking towards Kurt's car. Before getting inside though, he turned around and called out for Kurt, to which the boy turned around too. "Good night," he said with a smile.

"Good night to you too, Puck," Kurt said, returning the smile to him.

"See you around, Blaine,"

"You too, Puck." Blaine smiled back.

* * *

**A/N:  
**(3) **Thank you for reading! :) I hope you enjoyed it. Don't forget to review please. :D  
**(4)** I would like to take this time to reply to some of my reviewers. Lol!  
**evol love:** I know I thanked you already, but thank you again for requesting amazing betas. :D  
**rinswan and louise:** Thanks for correcting my French. XD Obviously I'm not very good at it. :|  
**nameless reviewer :( :** Thanks for correcting my grammar on that one. ;) Please introduce yourself! Lol!  
**SouthernHemmy, evol love, NakedKing, Moosxaxlot, matchbookjealousy, and sacha k:** Thank you for reviewing my work regularly. XD  
Really appreciated it. :D**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N:  
**(1) **Thanks to PteraWaters! :)  
**(2) **Thanks to readers and followers! :D**

* * *

**Chapter 11**

* * *

"Coach Beiste has quit," Mr. Schuester exclaimed. His arms crossed as he panned the room disappointedly. Having no clue what was going on, Puck raised an eyebrow, as more of the glee club members looked around the room clueless.

Finn snapped his head towards in front, "Wait, what? That's terrible." He straightened his body up.

"Yeah, that's not what we want." Sam looked furious. By now, everybody was looking back and forth to the two boys.

"The opposite of what we want," Artie said. "The football team was actually winning!"

"Well then you better put your heads together and find a way to get her back, fast, because I am actually_ ashamed _of you." Mr. Schue's forehead started to wrinkle, his eyes darting to Finn, Sam, and Mike. "You really hurt someone who is a great addition to this school!" He waved his hand to emphasize his point. Some of the glee kids, those who have no idea what's going on, looked at each other as if asking to translate what Mr. Schue was saying.

"I'm sorry," Rachel started. "What exactly did we do?"

"No, no, no, it's us," her boyfriend replied. "The boys." Finn pursed his lips.

"Oh great, what did you do this time, Puckerman?" Santana asked.

"Hold up, why me?" Puck defended. "I just came from juvie."

"Well, it's me, Sam, and Mike, actually," Finn told everyone.

"Aaand Tina," Mike quietly added, earning a good long stare from everyone in the room.

"We sort of figured out that picturing Beiste while making out is even better than a cold shower." Everybody's mouth gaped open from shock. "Uhh, I mean— I don't ever," Finn hurriedly told Rachel.

Recovering from shock, everybody else snickered. "That's totally gonna work better than a cold shower, alright," Santana said as she smirked at Finn.

"Now guys, this is not funny," Mr. Schue crossed his arms once more. "If you guys don't fix this, then all of you are disqualified from the girls versus boys mash-up competition," the teacher bluffed. Of course disqualifying them from the mash-up competition was not enough.

"What?" Kurt exclaimed.

"Mr. Schue, that's kind of unfair," Blaine added. "I mean, it's not entirely our fault."

raised his hand to protest, but Figgins came calling for Mr. Schue. "I need to see you and Noah Puckerman in my office, please." Everybody looked at Puck confused, their brows joined together. Puck had the same face as everyone as well; he stood up and started working his way towards the door. Santana brushed her hand at Puck's just to let him know it's going to be alright as he passed by her.

Puck made his way towards the door and heard Mr. Schue say, "We're still not done about Coach Beiste." Puck turned back to look at Santana for comfort or something. But for some reason, his eyes landed on Kurt, who replied back with a look that was even better than Santana's it's-going-to-be-alright look. "Meanwhile, do some vocal exercises with Brad." The teacher patted Puck's back, and led the way. Puck smiled a little at Kurt, and followed Mr. Schue.

* * *

"This is garbage! I've been doing my community service!" Puck's voice was getting louder and louder. The moment he stepped inside the principal's office and saw his parole officer, he knew he was in trouble.

"When you wrote hanging with a crip on your probation application, we thought you were doing an outreach program." The parole officer was standing right beside Puck.

"But I totally have been helping Artie!" Puck started pleading. He told some of the ways how he helped Artie, but seeing there was no effect on Principal Figgins and on his parole officer, he looked at Mr. Schue, "Please Mr. Schue, you gotta help me out here!"

"There's got to be some way for Puck to make up for this," Mr. Schue calmly suggested. "He's been a model student since he got back." Puck nodded along side.

"Three whole day's work, _impressive_," she said sarcastically. Puck pursed his lips and shook his head. "Look, there are rules. If Mr. Puckerman doesn't find a suitable alternative for his community service, by tomorrow, his probation would be revoked—"

"Oh screw that!" Puck cut out his parole officer. His memories in juvie were not worth reliving it again. "I am not going back there!" Figgins slammed his hand down his desk and started pointing at Puck, exclaiming to calm down. But then, Puck had enough of this. Juvie was not a place for him. Hell, it wasn't a place for anyone. "No you calm down! All of you calm down! I told you, I AM NOT GOING BACK THERE!" He looked at the principal, then Mr. Schue, then at his parole officer, who was writing something down. "What are you writing?" He stood up, grabbed the folder and threw it away.

"PUCK!" Mr. Schue grabbed his arm in an attempt to stop his behavior. "This isn't helping," he said to calm down the boy.

"HELPING!" He tugged his arm away from his teacher. "Since when did any one of you care about helping me?" It was true. During his stay at McKinley, there wasn't a time where a teacher confronted him about the low grades and asked how he was doing. No one cared about him. "None of you asked how juvie was when I came back! None of you care about me!" He knocked over a pen holder on Figgin's desk, and bolted out of the office.

* * *

Puck sat on the bleachers as he cleared his head. The sun was shining down on the field, where a few Cheerios was practicing a routine. He saw Santana struggling under the pyramid, Brittany teaching the dance routine to some of the girls, and Quinn arguing with Sue. Puck sighed as he looked at the other side of the field. It was empty. The football team was now officially doomed without Coach Beiste. _Better get ready to suck again_. Puck thought to himself. He leaned and closed his eyes; he replayed what had happened inside Figgin's office in his head. _I'm going back to juvie_.

"You all right?"

He squinted at the shadow beside him, "What are you doing here?"

"I saw you bolt out Figgin's office."

He closed his eyes again. "Yeah, well I needed to get out of that place." He felt the other boy drop his bag, and sit next to him. "Aren't you supposed to practice the mash-up with the boys?"

The pale boy sat straight up with poise, his legs were crossed and his hands cupped his knees. His eyes glued on the Cheerios. "Finn figured since you're not there, there's no point in practicing."

"I'm not gonna perform."

Kurt turned his head at Puck, "What do you mean you're not gonna perform?"

Puck opened his eyes this time to look at Kurt. He took a deep breath as he leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "I'm not gonna perform because I might go back to juvie tomorrow."

"What do you mean you _might_ go back to juvie?"

Puck sighed impatiently. "It means if I don't find any community service before tomorrow, my parole officer is going to revoke my probation."

The other boy remained quiet for awhile, both of them watching as the Cheerios practiced a few complicated dance moves to the sound of Katy Perry's California Girls. They watched as the trio, Brittany, Santana, and Quinn, executed every step perfectly, earning a few degrading words from their coach, while the rest the squad received a _lot_ of it. "Aren't you a little scared about going back there?" Kurt asked.

The other boy didn't turn around to face Kurt. It was easier lying to a person when your back is facing them. "Please, Puckzilla can handle a few more days in."

"We're talking about weeks here, Puck."

"Like you care," Puck muttered under his breath. He squinted as the sun shine under them; California Girls continued to play on the background. He leaned back once again to the bleachers, and caught sight of Kurt looking at him for signs of anxiousness. He ignored it and said, "Where's Blaine?"

Kurt brushed his hair aside and at the same time looked back at the Cheerios, "I left him with the boys when I saw you out here."

"You shouldn't have done that."

"Why not?" Kurt shrugged. "I mean, clearly, you need someone to talk to and Finn's got a lot in his mind with Coach Beiste, and Santana's out there."

"Blaine might think you're not into him."

"You're going back to juvie and all you can think about is Blaine?" Kurt asked out of amusement, facing Puck. "If you weren't so straight, I would guess you like Blaine more than I do." The boy chuckled as he faced once more to the field, leaving Puck smiling nervously. "Besides, I am not into him, at least not yet."

Puck stared at the back of Kurt's head. He watched him as he watched the Cheerios grooved once more. He smirked at himself silently and said, "Yeah, well, you two are bound to happen."

"Everyone thinks so, huh."

Puck didn't make a sound. Instead, he let his eyes glued upon Kurt's head, watching him. Meanwhile Kurt continued to observe the Cheerios, but his train of thoughts wasn't exactly with it. Sensing something was in the air, Puck couldn't help but ask, "What are you thinking of?"

Kurt glanced at Puck, stunned at his question, but looked back at the Cheerios. "It's just unfair, you know? People have a lot of choices of who to like, while I get only one."

"Who said so?"

"You remember what happened between me and Finn last year? He got kicked out of the house and the jocks shoving me against the lockers resumed." Kurt half-heatedly smiled at himself while rubbing his right shoulder absent-mindedly. "I just don't want that to happen again." He dropped his hands once more and lay it down on his lap.

"Well, I say screw that," Puck responded in an attempt to cheer up Kurt. "Like whomever you like, Kurt. Don't let others have a say who you should date or not. Finn had it coming last year when he said that word in your house, and as for the shoving," Puck placed his hand firmly at Kurt's right shoulder. Puck waited for Kurt to face him, and when he does, he gave him his most sincere smile. "You just need someone who can protect you."

Kurt smiled at him; his blue green eyes glistened as it stayed on Puck's for awhile, before looking back at the field. Puck slipped his hand away and returned to his side. He took a deep breath watching Kurt, and then his attention went back to the Cheerios. They remained like that for a few minutes.

"Come on," Kurt exclaimed, he patted Puck's arms as he stood up and took his bag and hanged on his shoulder.

Puck raised his eyebrows, "What? Where?"

"You need a community service, right?" Kurt watched as Puck nodded. "Come on, I have the perfect job for you."

* * *

"Wait, am I hearing that right?" His glasses slid down on the bridge of his nose as Artie continued to watch Kurt. Right behind the pale boy was Puck, hands on his pockets and an element of hesitant was in his eyes. "Are you sure you don't mean Puck needs _a_ tutor?"

"No," the pale boy smiled at Artie. "Puck needs _to be_ a tutor— specifically math or history."

"You're insane," Artie pushed his glasses back. "Puck doesn't even go to any of those classes."

"Oh well, I guess this gig will not happen!" Puck exclaimed. The boy sitting on the wheelchair started to wheel himself backward and go down the corridors.

"No!" Kurt extended his hand at Artie to stop him. "Look, it's this or juvie," he whispered at Puck's direction.

"Actually, juvie sounds good for me," he lied.

"Oh please, you're such a bad liar! No one likes juvie, even those who rule the inside don't want to be there." Kurt turned back at the boy in the wheelchair, "His probation is at stake here, so he really,_ really _needs this."

Artie pursed his lips; it was obvious he was debating inside his head. "I don't know," he mumbled to himself.

The boy behind Kurt took a deep breath, he stepped closer to Artie and said, "C'mon, I got you a date with Brittany, atleast pay me back by doing this?"

"But Puck, I can't just put you on. You skipped math and history since you're on the 7th grade!"

"I didn't skip, okay?" Puck defended.

"Then what, AP math?" Artie mentioned. Puck sighed again as he ran his hand through his mohawk, he shifted his weight uncomfortably and taking his time to answer Artie's question. "You do take AP math." Artie finally broke the silence, his eyes opened with shock and excitement.

"And AP history," Kurt added. "Sorry!" Puck was now looking at Kurt, giving disapproving looks at what the boy just said.

"Wow," Artie said amused, he smiled at Puck. "Wait, this is for real, right?"

"Yeah," Puck mumbled but nodded at Artie.

"Let's see," Artie said while taking out a small notebook from his pocket and writing something. He flipped some pages over and scanned it. "Zizes up today for a math tutor, think you can handle her?"

"Lauren Zizes? From the wrestling club?" Puck uttered. "I think Puckasaurus can handle a chick like that."

* * *

**A/N:  
**(3) **I'm so sorry for the delay, been out of town for a few days to relax, and now I'm back! :D Yey!  
**(4) **A review would be nice, you know. ;)**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N:  
**(1) **Thanks to PteraWaters for beta-ing! :D  
**(2)** To the readers and followers, I thank you! :D  
**(3) **Sorry, sorry! :( I know I've been gone for awhile, and for that, I am so sorry! You see, it's my  
last summer, since next summer I'll be taking up an o****n-the-job summer training, so I had been spending  
my time wisely w********ith family, friends, and some work to spice up my resume. :D  
So, since you've been waiting for sooooooo long for an update, here's a long chapter for you! ;)  
Enjoy! :D **

* * *

**Chapter 12**

* * *

"I'm so fucking screwed on this test," Lauren Zizes mumbled as she eyed the notes she needed to study for her test tomorrow.

Puck was across from her, leaning way back on his chair and twirling a pencil in his hand. "No you're not. All you needed to do is memorize those and you're good to go for Mr. Benson's class. Oh yeah, don't forget to answer all the practice exercises I gave you last time."

"I still can't believe this," she scoffed. Lauren tilted her head sideways as she spoke, "Noah Puckerman teaching me Trigonometry."

"Shut up, Zizes," he sneered back. "I'm doing this just for the community service, that's all."

"Shame, I really thought you'd changed," Zizes shook her head a bit as she reached for her bag.

"What do you mean?" His face scrunched in concern as he sat up straight.

Lauren pursed her lips at Puck. She sighed as she started explaining, "The downside of having Jacob as the head of the media projects in school is that you have to learn everything about glee club, inside and out."

"What?" Puck smirked as he held in a laugh.

"It has something to do with his obsession with Rachel, anyway," she waved her hands casually. "The thing is we got this segment where we compare glee club members now from then." Puck shook his head a bit, earning a look from Lauren. She continued, "For example, Tina Cohen-Chang _Then_ had a fake stutter, wore too much black, dated the wheelchair guy, and was even mistaken as a vampire by Figgins. But Tina Cohen-Chang _Now_ has evolved into someone who dates Mike Chang, who despite his cred as a hottie football player, might be related to her in some way."

"They're not—"

"The point is, Puck, that the segment we've been working on has been on hold because of you."

"Me?" He pointed at himself.

Lauren nodded her head, "We just don't see any change in you."

"Hey, I tutor—"

"And you're willing to let _everybody_ know about that?"

"No."

"Thought so," she mumbled.

"But hey, I've changed!" Puck argued.

"Really?" Lauren asked and Puck nodded at her with a duh expression. "You and Finn started high school as jock bullies. You know, throwing Kurt in the dumpster, giving slushies, beating up nerds— which is ironic since you are one of them now. During sophomore year, Finn changed from that to—"

"How?" Puck was starting to get irritated. He hated it when people compared him to his best friend. _We're two different people, why can't people see that_?

"The Lady Gaga incident," Lauren shrugged. "Someone told us Finn was the first to show up and stop Karofsky and Azimio from beating up Kurt." Puck sighed as he rolled his eyes. Lauren squinted at him. It took a moment before she spoke again. "I saw you today just watching Karofsky terrorizing some kids in the hall this morning."

"So?" He said indifferently, not really listening anymore.

"You see, if you had changed, you would have defended them." She shrugged. Puck gave her a look and she added, "I'm just saying."

"I'm on probation. You do know what that means, right?"

She shook her head. "I'm not saying you should pick up a fight. Maybe you know, talk or something."

Puck chuckled at her, "You don't know Karofsky. He doesn't respond to something like that, he responds to a fist right in his face."

"You'll never know, Puck." She grabbed Baby Ruth bar from her bag and started eating it. "You do know that a lot of people don't know you're really this big nerd— no offense— so what makes you think you _know_ Karofsky?"

Without thinking, Puck blurted, "Because I'm pretty sure Blaine already did that—"

"Blaine? The new kid?" Realizing his slip up, he decided to just nod. "Puck, are you snooping around the new kid?"

"What? No!" He snorted. "Why would I do that?" He tried to avoid Lauren's eyes as he laughed nervously.

"No reason," she shrugged, but her eyes remained focused on him. She shifted in her seat a bit to lean forward at Puck, making the boy look at her. "Is it true that he came to McKinley to face his fear of bullies?"

There was a moment of silence between them. Lauren spent her time scrutinizing Puck, but the boy spent his time composing himself. It was the first time he heard that rumor, and in all honesty, he didn't know how to react. Puck licked his lips and said, "I honestly don't know what you're talking about." He shrugged as he tilted back once more in his chair.

She spent another moment scrutinizing him with her eyes, then Lauren started packing up her things. "Well, got to go. I still need to go to Mr. Schue's class."

"You shouldn't worry, he's on sick leave." Puck said, also starting to pack his bag.

"Figgins hired a substitute, but I heard she's cool." She swung her bag onto her shoulder and made her way to the doors. Before leaving Puck though, she turned around and said, "If you want a place in the segment, maybe you should speak to Kurt or something."

Puck looked up at her from his bag, his brows scrunched up, "Why?"

"I just saw him yesterday running away from the boy's locker room, like he's running for his life."

An "oh" was the only way Puck could reply. _That was really weird for him to do_.

"Yeah, probably to do with Karofsky again," Lauren mentioned offhand.

"Wait, what?" Puck asked, confused. "Why Karofsky?"

"I saw him exit the locker room after Kurt."

_Okay, something definitely is up_. "Yeah, sure. I'll go talk to him."

Lauren smiled smugly at Puck, took a bite of her Baby Ruth, and walked out into the hallway.

* * *

Finn slammed his locker shut just as the bell rang. He made his way to the choir room as the hallway started to get busy with students and teachers. He went inside the room and noticed that Mercedes, Artie, Tina, and Mike were the only ones in the room. Mike was looking down on his phone, probably playing Angry Birds, and the other three looked like they were gossiping. Finn shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets. He glanced at his left and saw a couple of band members. _Huh, that's weird_. Finn thought. _Mr. Schue's sick today_. He then noticed Puck, down on the floor and rubbing butter on it. He cocked his brows as he approached him and asked, "Dude, what are you doing?"

Puck stood up from the floor and held the butter high, "Kurt got us a substitute so I'm buttering the floor." He held a duh expression on his face, and continued with his task.

"Oh. Wait, isn't that a good thing?"

"Yep! This will make the substitute slide her way to the hospital." Puck smirked at himself. He saw Finn's shoes shift awkwardly.

"What? No!" Finn exclaimed. "I mean, getting a substitute! Sectionals is like two weeks from now!"

"Dude, your mom's getting married this weekend, and all you can think about is Sectionals?"

"Yeah, well, we got that down, but Sectionals!" the tall football player exclaimed more loudly and franticly.

"There, finished!" Puck stood up from his spot, and pulled a towel out of his back pocket and started wiping his hands. "You got that right, _we_ got that down. _You_ still need to practice." Finn felt offended, but at the same time, was used to the teasing. He was about to argue some more when Artie called him out.

"Hey gigantor!" Both boys looked at Artie and saw that he was laughing with Mercedes and Tina. "We're all gonna swap names, yo!" The girls nodded in excitement.

By this time, the glee kids were starting to arrive. Brittany and Santana arrived together and heard what Artie was planning. They scurried off in his direction and started arguing about who got to be Rachel. Sam and Quinn also arrived together and sat beside each other, oblivious of their surroundings and caught up in their own conversation.

Rachel appeared on the doorway, marching down between Puck and Finn, "Hold on, did I hear something about a substitu—" The two boys were too late to stop her and watched Rachel crash down on the buttered floor.

"Yes! It works!" Puck cheered. Finn shook his head and tried helping Rachel, as the others started laughing.

"Well," Rachel stood up and fixed her hair. "Atleast I didn't fall and break my _talent_." She continued marching towards a seat on the third row. "I'm fine, thank you for asking!" She said sarcastically as she passed by Artie, Mercedes, and Tina who were still snickering.

Puck chuckled even more at Rachel's last line; he glanced back and saw that the substitute entered the room. She smiled at Puck and Finn, and proudly glided across the buttered floor.

"Oh, what the hell?"

"Hola clase," she smirked at Artie, and at the others.

Puck faced her and whispered to himself, "How did she do that?"

As if hearing him, the substitute turned around and pointed something on the floor, "You forgot the butter on the floor."

Puck looked down and frowned at it. "Oh." He was about to crouch down and get the butter when all of a sudden, he crashed down and pinned somebody under him.

"Kurt! You all right?" Finn said anxiously. "Puck, get up!"

"Oh God, I'm sorry, Kurt!" Puck propped himself up, with a little help from Finn, while the other boy got a help from Blaine.

"You all right?" Blaine asked, with the same worried tone as Finn's. The same question was also asked by Finn to Puck.

"I'm all right!" Kurt promptly fixed his hair and bag as Blaine was dusting off Kurt's sleeves

"Yeah, yeah," Puck replied at Finn.

"You sure? You look flushed." The bigger boy held Puck's shoulder and even leaned closer to Puck for a better view of his face.

"What?" Puck lifted his hand on his face. His eyes bulged out when he felt his hot cheeks. For some reason, his eyes fell on Santana. She was smirking mischievously at him, _oh damn_. "No I'm not," he denied.

"Uhm, you do look a little red, Puck," Blaine confirmed. Puck tried to cover by wiping his face with the sleeves of his shirt, as if wiping something from his face.

"Well, if both of you are done blushing, let's start with introductions," the substitute teacher started. _Wait, what? Both of us?_ He felt once more the shot of hot blood through his cheeks as he saw Kurt, he too was red. He shook his head in time to listen what the substitute said, "My name is Holly Holiday, what's yours? Go," she snapped at Puck.

"I'm Finn Hudson, quarterback of the football team," Puck said loudly with his own impression of Finn. The real Finn glared at him and even punched his arm.

"I'm Rachel Berry, his loud, loud girlfriend," Santana smiled at Ms. Holiday.

"I'm Mike Chang," Brittany pumped her fist in the air as the real Mike nodded.

"Those aren't your names; you know why I know that? I know this because I recently watched a video of you guys performing at Regionals, where you came in _last_." She watched as the students' faces dropped from smiles to frowns. She continued with a hushed tone, "Maybe because the songs were about thirty years old, but—"

"Those songs are classic," Finn defended.

"Don't get me wrong, those songs are amazing. But they sounded like somebody else's favorite songs, not yours. Just saying," she shrugged.

"She speaks the truth," Brittany said.

Holly smiled at the kids. "I'm not like Mr. Schue—"

"You're not?" Rachel asked, her expression a little worried.

"No, I'm not," she shook her head a bit as she closed the gap between the students and her. "It's because, unlike Mr. Schue, I'm going to ask you kids what songs would you like to do for Sectionals, or atleast songs you want to rehearse today." She joined her hands in front of her to show her excitement, but she was greeted by wave of silence. "Oh, don't get ask that question much, do we?"

"Ms. Holiday's right," Kurt said. He walked to his seat, leaving the other boys behind. "Mr. Schuester's set list sometimes seems like he hasn't listened to the radio since the eighties."

Holly pursed her lips with a smile. "Well, why not an assignment instead?"

A hand shot through the air and insisted to speak without the teacher's acknowledgement, "Assignments are given after we rehearse, Ms. Holiday."

"You must be the real Rachel, huh?" The substitute teacher guessed. Rachel looked around her, disapproving of the snickers made by other students in the choir room. "Just like I said, I'm not like Mr. Schue." She winked at girl who returned her hand to her lap.

"So what's the assignment?" Blaine asked, excitement in his tone.

"Well, since Mr. Schue's gone for the whole week, I want you guys to perform a song, which you will present, solo, duet, acapella, anything!"

"And the theme?" Mercedes asked, a smile was forming on her lips.

"Nothing."

"I don't get it," Brittany scratched her head as everybody mouthed the words "nothing?" to each other.

"I'll be giving you a chance to sing _any_ song you want to sing."

"_Any_ songs?"

"Any!" Ms. Holiday smiled at the kids. The room was starting to buzz with excitement. Finn and Blaine were already mumbling songs they wanted to perform. Puck was, well, in his own world. _Why did I blush_? He asked himself once more.

"Consider it done, Ms. Holiday," Mercedes smiled and proceded to whisper something in Kurt's ear. A hand was raised again into the air.

"Yes, Rachel?" Ms. Holiday said.

"So what's the band here for?" She asked as she tilted her head towards the four people behind the instruments.

"Well, a little bird told me that a wedding's coming up, and it's nowhere near perfect yet. So I'd say why not practice, eh?" She smiled at the kids who groaned loudly at the idea.

* * *

"Ready? And go! One, two, three. One, two, thre— Ow!" They instantly stopped dancing as Kurt grabbed his foot once again. "Okay, we need to stop and do this dance over. It's not gonna work for Finn."

"No, wait, I can try—" Finn tried once more doing the dance, but this time landing on one of his own feet with the other. "Ow!"

"Wow, I didn't even know that could happen." Blaine watched Finn leap around the room holding his foot in pain. "Any more ideas, Mike?"

"Uhmm," Mike tried his best to come up with something. He scratched his head, but no ideas came into mind anymore. He looked at the three cheerleaders behind him for help.

Quinn wiped her sweat with a towel, and shrugged. Santana was beside her and caught everybody's eyes, "I say let's kick Finn out of this dance."

"Santana, it's his mom's wedding too," Kurt sighed, exasperated at Santana's suggestion. All she did was purse her lips and shrug. Everybody now looked at Brittany.

She was behind the two other cheerleaders, naturally spacing out. But the moment she felt a number of eyes looking at her, she immediately snapped out of her trance. "How about Soulja Boy?"

"Soulja Boy?" Kurt asked.

"Yeah, I can do that," Finn smiled.

"No no no," the other boy exclaimed. "We are not going to dance Soulja Boy down the aisle!" Kurt squeaked out of horror.

"Well, duh, of course not," the blonde cheerleader said. "Maybe we could just tweak it a little bit for a more appropriate dance."

Kurt tilted his head. "Would that work?" he asked Mike.

"It's possible," Mike smiled and nodded at Brittany.

"Okay, let's get is started then," Kurt chirped.

"Can we take a break?" Finn asked. "I'm started to get bummed out by all these steps." Rachel ran her hand over Finn's back to comfort him.

"Take five then," his soon-to-be step-brother announced. Everybody sighed in relief. They dispersed from their formation and went to their bags. Almost all of them went for their phones first, checking their messages and browsing the web.

"Hey!" Blaine smiled at Kurt. He took the seat beside him and looked at his foot. "How're your toes?"

"Numb," Kurt replied with a smile, making Blaine laugh a little. "Numb toes are not funny, Blaine. I think they might be fractured," he said, quite amused despite his actual words.

"No," Blaine said in between laughs. He gestured his hand at Finn, who was still in the middle of the floor dancing. By his side was Puck, who was teaching him the steps. "I think it's actually fun watching Finn dancing—"

"Really?" Kurt snapped monotonously. "It's not fun when you're actually dancing next to him." They watched as Finn did a complicated spin, and ended up bumping Puck hard on his shoulder. Not amused by it, Puck pushed him back with a "what gives?" expression on his face. "See?" Kurt said. They watched as Finn apologized and pleaded Puck to teach him once more.

"Speaking of help, I need help in picking a song." Blaine turned at Kurt with a smile on his face.

"A song for what?" He smiled back.

"A song for you guys. I heard from Mercedes that you guys have these 'debut performances'," he said, putting quotes in air with a little laugh. "And I want to make my 'debut performance' this week."

"So what do you have in mind?" He crossed his legs and cupped his knees with his hands.

"I have a list here," Blaine grabbed his bag and started rummaging it. "Oh wait," he scrunched his brows. "It's not here. I think it's in my locker."

"No worries," Kurt hopped out of his seat to stand up. "We can get it."

* * *

Finn was still out on the floor with Puck practicing, but was failing miserably. He did the complicated turn, and ended up bumping Puck hard on his shoulder. "Ow! Dude!" Puck pushed him.

"Ow!" He tumbled a little before regaining balance. "Dude! I'm sorry okay, but you know damn well that I'm not good with these things!"

Puck sighed. His hands were on his hips as he shook his head. "Remember what Mr. Schue told us when we joined the Acafellas?"

"Yeah, the baseball thing." Finn said, rather flustered at his two left feet.

"I'm not much of a dancer Finn, but as Mr. Schue said, you got to relax. Don't be too tense, loosen up!"

"Okay, loosen up," he chanted at himself. He jumped in his spot a few times while shaking his hands, just like the way he do before a game. "Okay, okay." Finn counted in his head. Just as the number three came into his mind, he jumped to a turn. Puck watched him, unfortunately, tumbling again sideways.

"This is useless," Puck groaned at himself as he rubbed his forehead.

"No, I can do this!" Finn, as determined as he is, jumped to a turn again and this time, nearly tumbled to the ground if not for Blaine.

"Whoa there, giant," Blaine exclaimed. It was fortunate for Blaine that he slid away from the big kid and caught him, breaking the fall. "You better take it easy or we'd be one man short this weekend."

"Thanks Blaine," Finn replied. He fixed himself a bit and approached Puck. Apparently jumping and turning from the middle of the floor takes you to the far left of the room.

"You're not ditching this practice, are you?" Puck asked Blaine and Kurt.

"No, we're gonna get something from my locker," Blaine replied. Kurt passed by him and exited the room, Blaine turning and following him.

Puck watched them walked away, and turned back to Finn. "Blaine's spending a lot of time with Kurt."

"What?" Finn snapped out of his focus. "Oh, yeah! Kurt's been showing him around."

"And you're okay with that?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" The taller boy looked confused at Puck.

"You want the best for Kurt right?" Finn nodded. "So you're okay with Blaine being afraid of standing up to bullies?"

"What?" Finn squinted at Puck. "So what's that got to do with Kurt?"

"Hey! What are you guys talking about?" Rachel asked. Finn took a water bottle from Rachel's hand and took a drink.

"Nothing," Puck answered. He walked away from the two and grabbed his seat. His fingers started to busy themselves with his phone when a certain brunette sat beside him.

"I can't believe you," Santana whispered. "I can't believe you set Brittany up on another date with wheels."

Puck looked at her and replied, "Didn't do that. And would you mind? I have a lot of things on my mind."

"What? Your little moment with Pinocchio awhile ago?"

"Let it go, Santana." She threw an empty water bottle at him and hit him in his face. "Wha— Hey! Is this mine?" Puck exclaimed.

Santana walked away from him and answered, "Yep!". Puck let out a breath of annoyance as he shook his head.

Puck stood up and made his way to the water fountain down the hall. It was after-school hours now, so most of the students in the school were busy with their own extra-curricular thing. Approaching the fountain, he heard two voices around the corner. They were Kurt's and Blaine's.

* * *

"Teenage Dream, Misery, Raise Your Glass, Bills Bills Bills— I see your taste of music are the usual Top 40 singles." Kurt shuffled through the music sheets.

"I have Candles here, but—"

Kurt made an "ooh" sound and almost snatched it away from his hands.

"This is perfect!"

"But I'm actually saving it for something—"

"For?" Kurt asked him. His blue-green eyes trailed from the music sheet up to Blaine.

The other boy sighed with a smile on his lips, "Kurt, will you sing that song with me?"

Kurt smiled at him as a giggle escaped his lips. "Of course! I mean, the range is in my voice and—"

"No, Kurt," Blaine tried explaining as the other boy was still rambling about the song. "What I mean is—"

"What are you two doing here?" Both boys spun around and found Dave Karofsky, in his football uniform, already intimidating them with his height and the scowl on his face.

* * *

**A/N:  
Sooooo, what do you guys think?  
Is it nice? :D  
Is it bad? :(  
Or is it, "... meh."? ._.  
Just let me hear, or rather read, what you think! :D **


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N:  
**(1) **Thanks to PteraWaters! :D  
**(2) **To the readers and followers, thank you for keeping up with me and my laziness to  
type/post updates, lol! Love you, guys! :D  
**(3) **Woo! Chapter 13! \:D/ Hope you guys will like it. ;) Hihi!**

* * *

**Chapter 13**

* * *

"Teenage Dream, Misery, Raise Your Glass, Bills Bills Bills— I see the Top 40 singles are your taste of music." Kurt shuffled through the music sheets.

"I have Candles here, but—"

Kurt made an "ooh" sound and almost snatched it away from his hands.

"This is perfect!"

"But I'm actually saving it for something—"

"For?" Kurt asked him. His blue-green eyes trailed from the music sheet up to Blaine.

The other boy sighed with a smile on his lips, "Kurt, will you sing that song with me?"

Kurt smiled at him as a giggle escaped his lips. "Of course! I mean, the range is in my voice and—"

"No, Kurt," Blaine tried explaining as the other boy was still rambling about the song. "What I mean is—"

"What are you two doing here?" Both boys spun around and found Dave Karofsky, in his football uniform, already intimidating them with his height and the scowl on his face.

Blaine remained in his spot. He was speechless, and yet his face showed some anger towards the Karofsky. "It's not your hallway." It was Kurt who spoke up, however his voice was shaking. Blaine looked at Kurt's hands and realized it was starting to tremble.

Karofsky pressed his lips together to stop himself from asking another question. His nostrils flared as he paced towards them. His eyes focused more on Kurt than on Blaine, and despite Dave's terrorizing look in his eyes the other boy didn't move an inch. As the space between them grew smaller, Karofsky looked around the hallway and returned his attention to the two, or rather to Kurt. He placed a finger at his chest and said in a low tone, "Don't. Tell." He forcefully dug his finger at Kurt's chest after every word.

Kurt winced at the mild pain; but he didn't show any signs of giving into Karofsky's bullying. His eyes fell to Blaine's, and shifted back straight away to Karofsky's. "I did—"

"Stop." Blaine's voice was also shaking. He was shaking his head, some of his curls falling down on his forehead. "Just, stop Karofsky."

"What?" The football player now faced Blaine.

"I— I know," he stammered. He looked at Kurt, who was the only one he told about his fear of standing up. Kurt looked at him perplexed, but a wave of concern was straining his face. Blaine took a breath as he looked back at Karofsky and said, "I know what happened." He braced himself of what was going to happen next, but the football player looked more confused than ever.

"Know what?" He didn't know how respond to someone other than Kurt knowing his secret. So he played dumb, to make sure they were all in the same page.

Blaine looked warily at Kurt; he thought that this was the time to face it. He spent years hiding in everyone's shadows just to avoid this kind of situation. After all, this was the reason why he wanted to transfer in the first place, to stand up and be more of himself in public. He looked back at the kid in front of him, and said, "You and Kurt kiss—"

It was at this point, Karofsky started to get physical. He grabbed Blaine's collar, slammed him against the locker behind him, and growled, "YOU DON'T KNOW ANY SHIT—!"

"DAVE!" Kurt shrieked. He tried to squeeze himself between them, but it was no use. His arms were now between Karofsky's body and Blaine's, he was struggling to push the other kid away.

Blaine grabbed Karofsky's wrists, and started wriggling away from his hold. "Denying who you are doesn't solve anything!"

"SHUT UP!" Karofsky shouted and again, slammed him against the lockers. Blaine felt a strong urge to take a breath of air as the bully gripped his collar tighter. Kurt was saying something at Karofsky to calm his nerves, but there was no effect on the violent kid.

"Don't be scared!" Blaine choked. He thought for a second there if he was telling that to himself, or to Karofsky. He started smacking Karofsky's hand out of his shirt, but it was useless. "We're here for you—!"

* * *

Puck stopped at what he was doing the moment he heard Karofsky's voice. He inched closer at the turn of the hallway, where the three boys were. He bent his knees a little and pressed his back more on the wall. He eavesdropped for a few moments, and heard it. "You and Kurt kiss—", then it hit him, a pang of jealousy. _WHAT?_ He asked himself incredibly. He shook his head to focus to what was happening as he heard a slam against the lockers. "SHUT UP!" Karofsky's rage can be heard across the hallway.

He peered at the hallway and saw what was happening. Karofsky pinning Blaine against the lockers, and Kurt was trying his best to break them, well, to break the bigger kid off. He saw how Karofsky repeatedly slammed Blaine against the lockers to shut him up. _This kid doesn't know how to shut up!_ He continued to peer, as he heard the words "shut up", "don't say it", and such from Karofsky.

"Don't push him," Puck whispered to himself repeatedly, as if Blaine can hear him. Then he saw it, Karofsky clenched his fist tight. "This is not good," he said, alarmed. He thought of going there, but he can't fight, _I'm in probation_. He looked back and thought of the other members of the glee club who was in the choir room.

* * *

Karofsky slammed him again against the locker, but this time harder. He heard the boy grunt in pain, but he didn't care. The disoriented Blaine muttered words about courage as Kurt was still trying to calm him down. It was making his head hurt, so he repeatedly slammed Blaine against the lockers and muttering "shut up" at Kurt. But the two boys were not giving up; they were not giving him time to think. Karofsky started shaking out of anger. _This is too much to handle_, his fist was starting to fold as it shook. He was ready to burst out of rage, so he clenched his fist as tight as he could and raised it, ready to punch.

"JUST LET GO!" Kurt pleaded. He was frantic now as he saw Blaine was beginning to be blue. He was choking and was gasping for air, and now this, about to get punch. He desperately held Karofsky's clenched fist and yelled, "DON'T PLEASE!"

It was too much for Karofsky to handle. Using his fist, which Kurt was holding, he pushed the pale boy away. "DO NOT TOUCH ME, HOMO!"

* * *

Puck figured it was too late for someone to call as he heard Kurt's pleas. His eyes shifted from the choir room door to the feuding trio, and that's when he saw it. Karofsky pushed Kurt, causing him to topple backwards, landing hard on the floor. "DO NOT TOUCH ME, HOMO!"

Puck didn't think through what he did next. His feet marched towards them, and just as the time he saw Karofsky getting ready to punch Blaine, he sprinted forward like he always did in football. Puck tackled Karofsky, just barely missing Kurt on the floor. "WHAT THE FUCK!" He heard Karofsky scowled and gasp in pain. Puck wasn't paying attention to anyone but Karofsky now. He stood up and pulled the bewildered Karofsky with him, and slammed him into the lockers across from Blaine's.

Both boys struggled as they fought to pin each other against the lockers. After a few moments of pushing, grabbing, and pulling each other's shirts, Puck finally got a hold of the Karofsky and pinned him against the lockers with one elbow shoved in Karofsky's face and his other hand gripping his uniform.

"WHAT THE FUCK'S WRONG WITH YOU?" Karofsky huffed as Puck continued to dig his elbow into the guy's face.

"ME? WHAT ABOUT YOU?" Puck growled back. Karofsky's large hands climbed toward Puck's face, trying to push him off, but Puck kept shoving them away.

"I DIDN'T…," Karofsky whacked Puck's elbow off of his face, which worked, but then Puck's other elbow took its place. "…DO ANYTHING!" Karofsky lied.

"YOU STRANGLED BLAINE!" Puck shouted. "YOU PUSHED KURT!" His blood boiled at this point. He struggled to keep his thoughts in, but failed. "AND YOU KISSED HIM!"

Karofsky's eyes bulged out of his sockets as Puck shouted the last line. He let out a raged yell as he pushed Puck and gave him a punch directly to the face. Numb from the pain, Puck tried his best to brush it off, but Karofsky threw punches everywhere. Puck ducked almost all punches, and tackled Karofsky back against the lockers, keeping his head low to avoid the punches. While thinking of some way to defend himself, he slowly gained his senses.

Puck heard the shuffling of feet at the far end of the hallway and saw a part of Blaine's body slumped on the lockers. Somebody— no, it was Kurt— shouted for help. As he struggled to focus on his surroundings, a sharp pain spread through his side as Karofsky connected. Puck gasped in pain as he tried even harder to keep his body low. Getting frustrated, Puck shoved Karofsky hard against the lockers to stun him. He clenched his fist tightly and gave Karofsky the hardest punch he could give. Unfortunately, it landed on the lockers behind them, right beside the bigger boy's face. Just as they were starting to struggle again, a big pair of arms came between them.

"HEY! HEY! STOP IT!" Finn reprimanded his teammates, his team captain tone in full force. He separated them, and held Karofsky, as the other boys held Puck. "STOP IT YOU TWO! STOP IT!"

"What is going on here?" Ms. Holiday came running down the hall, followed by Rachel and the other girls.

"HE STARTED IT!" Karofsky once again lied.

"ME?" Puck tried to peel Mike's and Sam's hands off of him to get back at Karofsky, as the other boy also started prying Finn's hands off of him, ready to resume the fight.

The girls erupted into noise about the fight as Artie yelled "get him!"

"Okay!" Ms. Holiday screeched again, but no one was listening. Her words were drowned out by Puck's and Karofsky's shouts.

"LIAR!"

"LOSER!" Karofsky yelled as he tried to get his hands on Puck.

"YOU ASSHOLE!" Puck growled back. He charged towards the bully, until their hands grabbed at each other's faces. They threw small punches as their yelling match continued.

"WHO YOU CALLING ASSHOLE, FAG?"

"HYPO—HYPOCRITE!" Puck grunted when Karofsky's hand landed squarely on his face.

"OKAY!" Ms. Holiday screeched louder, but it was still no use. Thinking of another idea, she screeched once again, "CALM YOUR FUCKING SHIT DOWN, PEOPLE!" The substitute teacher smiled at the kids' reactions. Every time she, or rather a teacher, cussed, it was like an automatic off button for students, all stunned at the substitute's choice of words. She pointed at Finn, "You, accompany Dave to the Principal's office—"

"WHAT? PUCK STARTED IT ALL! I WAS— IT WAS NOT MY FAULT!"

Ignoring the Karofsky's resisting yell, she turned to Mike and Sam. "Both of you, kindly help Puck go to the nurse's office. That black eye and swollen fist look awful." She then looked over at Kurt who knelt beside Blaine and asked, "Is he a little dazed?"

"I think more than dazed," Kurt replied.

"Get him to the clinic also," Ms. Holiday ordered. She looked over crowd that had formed – most of whom still appeared stunned at her choice of words. "Well? What are you guys looking at? Go back to your shit and next time; mind your own fucking business, okay?" Some of the students snickered and some grumbled, but all retreated to their classrooms.

* * *

"Remember to apply Vitamin K cream around the affected area every night. Now, if you experience any pain—"

Puck chuckled slightly in his seat, "Puckasaurus can handle any pain, lady."

"It's Ms. Macy," the school nurse corrected. Instead of continuing what she was saying, she scribbled something down on a piece of paper and gave it to him. "Acetaminophen is better than an aspirin. Now, if you excuse me, I'll go see the other boy." She made her way to the other room, and Puck was now left all alone.

Puck sighed as he massaged his forehead. His thoughts stayed on the event that happened— no, not the brawl part. _He kissed Kurt. That asshole kissed Kurt. How dare he?— _Puck's train of thoughts broke as the school nurse's watch alarm rang beside him. He tapped it silent and obediently placed a new ice bag on his swollen fist and one on his black eye. His head tilted way back and he stared on the ceiling as he thought to himself again. _I'm going back to juvie. I'm going back to that hell-hole place_. He started freaking out in his mind when a knock resounded through the room. He looked up and saw Finn by the doorway.

"Hey!" He closed the door behind him and sat down where Ms. Macy sat before. "How's the eye?"

"Black."

Finn smiled. "And your hand?"

"Big and numb," Puck answered honestly. He smiled together with his best friend, and they both looked down at his swollen hand.

"Does it hurt?"

"As I said, it's numb— Ow! Don't poke it!"

"Sorry!"

Puck shook his head as he watched his awkward friend apologize and then chuckled after. It was not long before Finn turned serious and cleared his throat. "Dude, what happened in there?"

"Karofsky happened."

"You know what I mean," Finn looked sternly at him. "I know you can restrain yourself from all that when you know you're on probation."

"So?"

"So what happened? What did Karofsky do that made you so pissed off?"

Puck sighed and looked at his best friend. He debated in his head if he should tell Finn about Karofsky being gay, _but then_ _again, wasn't that obvious when I yelled hypocrite at the guy during our brawl?_ Finally, Puck spoke up, "Look Finn, I just did what kids don't have the guts to do to Karofsky. That guy was an asshole, and he was asking for it."

"You didn't answer my question—"

"It's because it's not important, okay?" Puck shrugged. "You know that guy was always stepping out of line with his antics, and all I did was stand up to him."

"Fine," Finn bluntly replied. He stood up from the seat and made his way towards the door. "You know you can tell me anything, right?"

Puck was taken aback at how sincerely his best friend was looking at him. He nodded and said, "With all that's happened last year and this year, I know I can trust you with everything."

Finn smiled and replied, "Next next week is our fourth game of the football season, so be sure your hand is better by then." He waved a small goodbye at him then turned the door knob and made his way out into the hallway. Meanwhile Puck laughed in his head. _Next week, ha! I'll be in juvie by then. On the upside, there'll be no homework, no training, and no rehearsals. Guess that wouldn't be so bad. But then again, limited visitors... No mom, no Nat, no Finn, no Santa— speaking of the devil._

"Knock, knock!"

"Where am I, in the hospital?" Puck asked as he watched Santana walk up beside him.

The girl smirked down on him as she took the ice pack from his eyes and fixed it. "Oh, you don't know how much I wanted that to happen."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

She placed the ice pack on his eyes again held it as she took the seat beside him. "Well, one, you should be there for being so stupid. What the hell are you thinking going after Karofsky like that while you're on probation?"

"What do you want me to do? Watch Blaine choke to death?"

"You could've called Ms. Holiday or Finn back in our choir room," Santana answered. "Besides, I don't think its Karofsky choking Blaine made you lose it," she shrugged.

Puck shook his head, "Why do you always have to put Kurt in our conversation?"

"So it is about Kurt?"

"No!" _Yes..?_

Santana squinted. "Well, if I'm wrong, then what did Karofsky do?"

"He was choking Blaine!" Puck exclaimed.

"Please! Kurt could've stopped him when he was choking him!" Santana continued to add pressure on the ice pack above his eye. "Unless, Kurt couldn't stop him?" Puck let out a sigh and closed his eyes. A small smirked formed on Santana's lips as he did. It was a sign of defeat, a sign of giving up of telling lies and let's-just-get-on-with-it! She spoke softly, "So Kurt couldn't stop him choking Blaine. Then what?"

Puck sighed once more, and said, "Both of them were talking to Karofsky at the same time and I think he was fed up, so he tried to punch Blaine."

"Tried?"

"Kurt somehow stopped him." Puck opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling instead of looking at Santana. "But his touch was like poison to Karofsky, so he shoved him on the ground."

Santana waited for more details. But after a few moments of waiting, she asked, "Then what happened?"

"I charged towards Karofsky."

Santana snorted but instantly stopped as Puck glared at her. "What? That's it?"

Puck shook his head and stared back at the ceiling. "He tumbled down on the ground, okay? And Blaine was turning blue."

Santana sighed with a smirk on her lips. "Admit it, now."

"Admit what?"

"Your actions were not because of Blaine but because of Kurt."

"What do you want from me?" Puck smiled and shrugged as his exasperated tone echoed inside the room.

"Don't be a hypocrite. You gave a hefty speech at Breadstix last time about being yourself and you don't give a crap of what others think of you—"

"Oh you're one to talk!" He looked at the door and lowered his voice at Santana. "All this time, you and Britt have been dating, but not once did I hear a real emotional talk between you two! And did I ever force you to?"

"That's different."

"How is that different—"

"Because I love her!" She exclaimed loudly. Santana quickly recovered as she checked the doorway to see if someone was there. She sighed, looked back at Puck, and said it again, "I love her, okay? Is that what you want to hear?"

Puck blinked, "You love her?" It was the first time. The first time that Santana said the word love, the first time he saw her vulnerable for someone, and most importantly, it was the first time Puck saw her step out of the closet. An annoying sound came from Ms. Macy's watch, disrupting their conversation. He pressed stop, and took the ice packs off, setting them down to the table. "So," he trailed off as he flexed his cold and numb hand. "Are you going to ask her out soon?"

Santana, who a moment ago had suddenly taken a great interest in the tiled floor, looked up with worry. "No," she said.

"Why not? I mean for sure Britt's gonna be happy, she wanted to be out like ages ago."

"Yeah well, I'm too late," she shrugged again.

"Too late?"

"Artie asked her out this morning, and she said yes." Puck stared at her dumbfounded. A date, they were going out for a second date. _If it wasn't for me, there wouldn't even be a first date._

He watched her shrug it away and play with the ice pack on the table. Puck sighed as he took her hand and pulled her into a tight hug. He felt her body freeze, surprised by the hug. But after a few seconds, she wrapped her hands around him, and silently sobbed. "Everything will work out," Puck whispered as he comforted her. "She'll come back to you,"

"But what if she doesn't?" she sobbed into his shirt.

"She will," he said with finality. He broke the hug and repeated it again, looking down on his best friend, "She will come back to you."

"Thanks," Santana smiled as she wiped her tears.

No one spoke as both of them returned to their seats. Puck continued to watch her as she stared at the floor, obviously thinking of Brittany... _And probably imagining her with Artie. _Suddenly, an idea popped into his mind. It made his palms sweaty, despite his other hand still being cold from the compress. _You can do this. If she can, you can._ He shrugged the nervousness away and nudged her to look at him, "Hey, if it makes you feel better," he paused and let out a breath. "I like Kurt."

* * *

**A/N:  
****Did you see that coming? : Lol! Tell me what you think! 'Cause you know, I'm not a mind reader. :|  
**


End file.
